Notre Dame, led by its freshman backcourt, advances in ACC Tournament

Notre Dame, an 84-80 winner over Georgia Tech in the first round of the 2024 ACC Tournament on Tuesday, has a nice foundation with its freshman backcourt duo of Markus Burton and Braeden Shewsberry.

Those two were the keys for the Irish being able to advance – Shrewsberry, the 6’3” shooting guard, putting up 23 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-8 from three, and Burton, the 5’11” point guard, putting up 21 points and eight assists.

Notre Dame shot 53.8 percent and was 12-of-23 from three. The only issue for the Irish was turnovers: 14 of them all told.

I’ve seen this team in person three times this season. Two of those times, Notre Dame looked like world-beaters, particularly Burton (17.3 ppg, 4.3 assists/g), who looks like a surefire NBA player not far into the future.

Shrewsberry, the son of first-year Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry, took a little longer to get acclimated to the college game.

His season numbers are modest – 9.9 points per game on 39.6 percent shooting from the floor and 36.7 percent from three.

He’s scoring 12.7 points per over his last 16, dating back to the 25-point night he put up in a Jan. 9 win over Georgia Tech, and he’s averaging 14.6 points per game over his last seven, on 50 percent shooting overall, and 46 percent (23-of-50) from three.

“I’ve been with a lot of good shooters. He can really shoot the ball,” Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said. “I thought a couple times we were there. A couple times we weren’t. But that’s been his calling for them.”

Notre Dame led most of the way, by as many as 17, at 65-48, with 12:59 to go, but Georgia Tech rallied to take the lead at 80-79 on a Baye Ndongo layup with 2:24 to go.

The Irish took the lead back on a Burton fast-break layup with 1:16 to go, then went 3-of-4 at the line in the final 24 seconds to close it out.

Notre Dame (13-19) advances to the second round on Wednesday, where the Irish will face Wake Forest (19-12) at 2:30 p.m.

Notre Dame won the teams’ only meeting of the 2023-2024 season, defeating the Demon Deacons, 70-65, on Feb. 27 in South Bend.

It’s a must-win game for Wake in terms of its NCAA Tournament at-large hopes.

While obviously for the Notre Dame side, it’s win or, the season’s over.

“Playing a good team, I guess, is what frightens you, a talented team. But what excites me is we get a chance to play again tomorrow,” Micah Shrewsberry said. “That’s really exciting. I would hate to be on the bus right now going home.”