It’s been a tumultuous start to February for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team. The Irish have lost three consecutive games against highly beatable teams (Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech), missing a chance to pull out of the ACC’s congested middle pack.
Well, they have pulled out of it — just in the wrong direction. At 10-13 overall and 4-8 within league play, Notre Dame ranks 15th out of 18 in the ACC. Fifteen teams will make the ACC Tournament in March.
“We got a group of guys that are hurting right now, got a group of guys that are disappointed,” head coach Micah Shrewsberry said after Saturday’s 65-63 loss to Virginia Tech. “Nobody’s hurting more than we are. Nobody’s putting in the time and the effort that we are. And when you don’t get the results, you gotta keep going back out there and being vulnerable … with no promise that it’s gonna go your way.”
The dejectedness of Notre Dame’s typically passionate head coach matched the inexplicability of Irish basketball in 2025. Notre Dame keeps losing the same game. Over and over again.
On Jan. 4, a 4-point lead late in the second half against North Carolina. Four days later in Raleigh, more than 26 minutes in the lead against N.C. State. On Jan. 18, a 17-point advantage early on at Syracuse. Two Saturdays ago, a 13-point lead after halftime in Miami. Three days after that, a 10-point cushion out of the gate at Florida State. This past weekend, more than 34 minutes of time in the lead against the Hokies.
Surely one, just one, of those games the Irish hung onto for a win, right? Not at all.
“I’m the one calling the plays down the stretch,” Shrewsberry said. “I’ve gotta put us in a better position for us to take advantage of how we can score, we can rebound … You’ve gotta get back on the horse and play again.”
That’s what the Irish will do on Wednesday at Boston College, a team notorious in recent years for beating Notre Dame in close games. They’ll probably be in another one at Conte Forum this week.
Or perhaps they won’t. The Irish already beat Boston College by 18 on Jan. 13 and could have several more double-digit wins in the new year based on their leads. In a game like Saturday’s, it’s easy to lose sight of all the good things Notre Dame had done, like shooting 50% from the field in the first half and making all 16 attempted free throws.
Shrewsberry offered Notre Dame’s big leads, albeit often-blown big leads, as a sign of better things to come.
“We’re the team that’s getting a double-figure lead, but we’re also the team that’s letting people back in it,” he said. “So it is us. It’s in there. Now, it’s about being able to do it for 40 minutes.”
Shrewsberry wants to see the Irish keep their discipline and avoid another 17-turnover game like Saturday’s. Junior forward Kebba Njie said they need to be more locked in defensively to spark the offense late in games. We’ll see if Notre Dame can improve in either area come Wednesday night.
Boston College coming off triple-overtime loss
The Eagles (10-13, 2-10 ACC) have beaten only Florida State and Miami to this point in ACC play. On Saturday, they danced into triple overtime with Syracuse at the JMA Wireless Dome, running out of magic in a 95-86 loss.
“[It’s] unfortunate that we didn’t come up on the winning side of it,” fourth-year head coach Earl Grant said after the game. “I thought that we did some things right to put ourselves in position to win.”
The Eagles are young, and that doesn’t always bode well in tight finishes away from home. Three of Boston College’s top four scorers have not yet reached their junior seasons. Sophomore Donald Hand Jr., the leader in points (16.2) and rebounds (6.6) per game, played mostly a terrific game at Syracuse, tallying 28 points. However, the 52 minutes he played fatigues him, resulting in four missed free throws after regulation concluded.
As a team, Boston College had clear-cut chances to win, particularly when it went up seven with two minutes to play in the second overtime.
“We’ve gotta learn how to win,” Grant said. “A lot of young guys in these moments for the first time.”
One of the young guys, redshirt freshman guard Fred Payne, hit the late three-pointer that sent the game into overtime. After playing only five games last year, he’s stepped up to average 17.4 minutes per game this season, tallying 8 or more points in five straight games.
“He’s not a freshman anymore. He plays a lot of minutes, so he’s really not a freshman anymore,” Grant said of Payne. “Usually freshmen don’t play as many minutes as he’s playing, so he’s growing up. That was a big shot, and hopefully he can build off of it.”
Now two games back of Notre Dame for the final ACC Tournament spot, Grant understands that the Eagles must keep their focus within during the season’s final month.
“At this point, it ain’t much we can do to try to control that outcome,” he said. “We’ve gotta find a way to win games and continue to better and grow and pursue the best version of ourselves.”
“The focus is to control what we can, and right now what we can control is showing up every day to continue to try to get better.”
They’ll attempt to beat the Irish in Chestnut Hill for a fifth consecutive season. Notre Dame previously claimed a 78-60 victory in South Bend on Jan. 13, as junior forward Tae Davis and sophomore guard Markus Burton combined to score 46 points and draw 17 fouls. The Irish grabbed 17 offensive rebounds in that game to Boston College’s 7.
The Irish and Eagles will tip off at 9 p.m. inside Conte Forum.
