The Notre Dame men’s basketball entered Wednesday night’s contest with three consecutive losses against ACC opponents Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech. The Irish had led in each of those games with chances to win in the second half. On Wednesday, Notre Dame beat Boston College 97-94 after trailing at halftime and by as many as 14 points early in the second half but managing to pull off the improbable comeback to earn the biggest comeback victory of Micah Shrewsberry’s tenure. Sophomore guard Markus Burton posted a career high in the double-overtime classic with 32 points to propel the Irish down the stretch and earn a much-needed victory.
Freshman guard Sir Mohammed scored the first basket to give the Irish a 2-0 lead early in the first half. The game consistently remained tight in the first half with four lead changes and three ties as both teams battled for early control. Boston College tied the game at 11-11 on a layup from Dion Brown, who finished with 15 points and 5 rebounds for the Eagles. The game tied again at 18-18 with 10 minutes left in the first half. Then Burton knocked in a deep, 25-foot three-pointer as part of an Irish 9-3 run that extended the lead out to six points, 24-18, with 8:27 remaining in the first half. Sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry made a jumper to pull the lead back to 31-26, but Boston College regained the lead with 2:56 remaining at 33-32. The biggest lead was seven for Boston College, and it finished the first half leading 41-35 on 59% shooting from the field compared to Notre Dame’s 51%.
As the second half began, the game seemed to be tipping in the direction of the Eagles. Boston College quickly doubled its lead to 12 points at 50-38 in less than 3 minutes to open the second half. Then, Braeden Shrewsberry stepped into a three-pointer in transition to bring the game back within single digits at 50-41. The biggest lead for Boston college was with 14:10 left in the second half as Roger McFarlane swished a jumper to extend the Eagles’ lead out to 14 points, 57-43. But again, the Irish whirled back, led by Burton and Shrewsberry, to within single digits at 57-48, forcing Boston College to call a timeout. These first baskets were part of a sustained 17-9 run that brought the game within 6 points, 66-60, at 10:05 in the second half. The Irish consistently turned to Burton and Shrewsberry for timely runs that propelled the team back into the game.
A Burton layup brought the Irish within four points at 72-68 with 5:59 remaining, but then the Irish fell into the predictable, final-5-minute scoring drought, where they went ice cold for almost three minutes. Junior forward Kebba Njie fought for a difficult rebound, setting up a baseline jumper for Shrewsberry to break the slump and keep the Irish around at 76-70 with 3:15 remaining. Burton made critical defensive plays throughout the game, none more important than a steal and pass to junior forward Tae Davis that tied the contest at 76 apiece with 1:26 remaining. The Irish finally found defensive stops at the end of a game, but found themselves trailing 80-78. Burton was fouled for a chance to tie the game at the free throw line with 26 seconds left, which he calmly did. Good defense from the Irish sent the game into overtime number one.
Overtime one carried the momentum from the final minute of regulation — a defensive slugfest. Burton scored the first basket with 3:50 left to give the Irish an 82-80 lead. Chad Venning, who finished with 22 points, tied the game at 82. Then Burton found himself at the free throw line again, where he knocked down a pair to give the Irish an 84-82 lead. Davis stole the ball on the other end, and Boston College fouled Njie out of position in transition. Then Njie, shooting 71% from the free throw line, knocked down one of two free throws to give the Irish an 85-82 lead with 1:26 remaining. On the other end, Donald Hand made a three-pointer to even the game at 85. Nobody scored in the rest of overtime, and the game headed to overtime number two at 85-85.
The Irish took a 91-88 lead with 3:12 remaining from Davis free throws. Then, after the Irish led 93-90, senior forward Julian Roper II committed a flagrant-two foul which ejected him and gave Boston College two free throws and the ball. This event sent the officials into a five-minute review, which helped Boston College regain its composure and go on a four-point run from the foul stripe and regain the lead at 94-93 with 1:20 left.
Boston College was 5-0 on the season in games decided by three points inside of five minutes to play, meanwhile the Irish were 2-6. The Irish missed multiple opportunities on offense but stayed in the game through the tough defense that consistently forced Boston College into challenging shots. Finally, Njie made a layup to take the lead at 95-94 with only 16 seconds remaining. The Irish defense held strong, and Burton closed out the game with two free throws to bring the final to 97-94. Irish fans across the country let out a sigh of relief as the clocks struck midnight in Boston and Notre Dame earned a crucial victory.
Overall, Burton led the team with 32 points, his career high, shooting 12-of-29 from the field, including 1-for-8 on three-point shots, but that didn’t stop the ACC leading scorer from making clutch plays in overtime. After the game, he said, “I obviously didn’t shoot the ball as well as I wanted to, but I got the job done. I got to the line, I got my teammates involved and I fought and competed.”
One the verge of missing the ACC Tournament, the Irish desperately needed to win this game against a comparable Boston College team in the ACC standings. They did just that in dramatic fashion to keep themselves in the ACC Tournament picture and tie Stanford, Syracuse and Cal in the standings. The Irish have a tough week ahead with Louisville, SMU and Pittsburgh, but this win keeps them ahead of the bottom teams. Despite a disappointing season overall, the team earned a hard-fought win and overcame its biggest deficit to date, which Micah Shrewsberry should be proud of. Whether or not they can replicate this magic again is certainly yet to be seen.
