Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 25, 2023 47 MEN'S BASKETBALL Burton got his. He has a good chance to make the Atlantic Coast Confer- ence All-Freshman team, because even on inefficient days like Saturday, he'll score. But Western Carolina limited him to 6-of-15 shooting. Senior point guard Russell Jones Jr. led the Catamounts' anti-Burton ef- forts. Despite being listed at 5-foot-8 — "That's a lie," Gray said; he's actu- ally shorter — Jones hounded Burton all game and scored on him at the other end. It was a team effort for Western Caro- lina, though, and it worked because of their experience. "Besides [senior center Charles] Lampten, these guys all played to- gether," Notre Dame head coach Mi- cah Shrewsberry said. "They all went through wars together. There's a trust factor that's built in with a team that's played together and has executed their system for a long time. "That's why teams get better toward the end of the year, because that trust factor starts to come in, that I know if I do my job, somebody's gonna do their job behind me and cover for me." That's a trust factor that the Irish just don't have yet. "We just haven't done it," Shrews- berry said. "Haven't done it enough. We haven't done it enough in real games." Less than a week later, Notre Dame got a taste of what a team with superior experience and superior talent can do to a young, thin team like the Irish. Auburn dominated Notre Dame in the second half, winning 83-59. The Irish showed the resilience Shrewsberry talks wants to see. He con- stantly talks about his teams scratching and clawing for 40 minutes. This it- eration did for 20, as Notre Dame out- rebounded Auburn 21-13 in the first half and picked up 11 offensive rebounds. That led to a 39-33 Tigers lead at half- time, which was much closer than any- one expected. Size and skill didn't create those re- bounds; Auburn is bigger and better than Notre Dame. Effort and hustle did. B u t a f te r t h e b rea k , t h e T i ge rs punched the Irish in the mouth with a 13-0 run. The Irish couldn't punch back. Notre Dame, as a young team can do from time to time, got caught losing focus once the game got out of hand. "We had a few guys that I thought played really well, played the way that we're trying to play as a group and set the culture for how we want to play," Shrewsberry said after the game. "We need to see more guys doing it." Notre Dame isn't as talented as most of the ACC, although the freshmen — especially Booth and Burton — look like legitimate building blocks for an NCAA Tournament team. It is definitely not as deep as most of the ACC. But that expe- rience gap, especially regarding experi- ence playing with each other, is the No. 1 reason the Irish will likely struggle in conference play. It's also why a loss to a talented, vet- eran small-school team like Western Carolina happened. It's a sizable part of why a demolition at the hands of an SEC team like Auburn with big aspira- tions happened. The other part is the talent gap. Shrewsberry believes, however, that the two losses and Notre Dame's close, season-opening win over Niagara will help the Irish in the long run. After the Auburn loss, Shrewsberry said that if Notre Dame learns from games like that, the Irish will get better. If not, those games will keep happening. "It's a learning experience for us," Shrewsberry said. "Each game is. We have so many guys that have never, ever played in moments like this. These two games are gonna help us grow as a team." The measuring stick for Notre Dame this season won't be wins and losses. It will be how different the team looks in March compared to how it looks in November. ✦ 2023-24 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown (High School) 0 Carey Booth F 6-10 203 Fr. Englewood, Colo. (Brewster [N.H.]) 1 Julian Roper II G 6-4 210 Jr. Detroit (St. Mary's) 2 Logan Imes G 6-4 189 Fr. Zionsville, Ind. (Zionsville) 3 Markus Burton G 5-11 166 Fr. Mishawaka, Ind. (Penn) 4 Alex Wade G 6-0 173 Jr. San Diego (Cathedral Catholic) 5 Raheem Braiton G 6-0 175 Sr. South Bend (Mishawaka) 10 JT Kelly G 6- 2 180 So. Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (Ponte Vedra) 11 Braeden Shrewsberry G 6-3 189 Fr. State College, Pa. (State College Area) 12 Tony Sanders Jr. G 6-7 217 Sr. Miami (Gulliver Prep) 13 Tae Davis F 6-9 208 So. Indianapolis (Warren Central) 14 Kebba Njie F 6-10 254 So. Centerville, Ohio (La Lumiere [Ind.]) 15 Thomas Hattan G 6-2 180 So. San Clemente, Calif. (San Juan Hills) 20 J.R. Konieczny G 6-7 204 Jr. South Bend (St. Joseph) 22 Thomas Crowe F 6-7 220 Jr. Macedonia, Ohio (Archbishop Hoban) 23 Zane Harbaugh F 6-6 210 So. Owasso, Okla. (Owasso) 25 Matt Zona F 6-9 252 Sr. Blauvelt, N.Y. (Bergen Catholic [N.J.]) 2023-24 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time/Result Nov. 6 Niagara W, 70-63 Nov. 11 Western Carolina L, 71-61 Nov. 16 vs. Auburn# L, 83-59 Nov. 17 vs. Oklahoma State# 4:30 p.m. Nov. 22 Maryland Eastern Shore (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Nov. 28 at South Carolina% (SECN) 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at Miami* (CW) 12 p.m. Dec. 5 Western Michigan (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at Marquette (FOX) 9 p.m. Dec. 16 Georgetown (CW) 2:15 p.m. Dec. 19 The Citadel (ACCN) 6 p.m. Dec. 22 Marist (ACCN) 8 p.m. Dec. 30 Virginia* (ACCN) 12 p.m. Jan. 3 NC State* (ACCN) 9 p.m. Jan. 6 Duke* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 9 at Georgia Tech* (ESPN/2/U) 9 p.m. Jan. 13 Florida State* (CW) 2:15 p.m. Jan. 15 at Boston College* (ESPNU) 7 p.m. Jan. 24 Miami* (ESPN/2/U) 7 p.m. Jan. 27 Boston College* (ESPN/2/U) 12 p.m. Jan. 31 at Virginia* (ESPN/2/U) 7 p.m. Feb. 3 at Pitt* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 7 at Duke* (ACCN) 9 p.m. Feb. 10 Virginia Tech* (CW) 5:30 p.m. Feb. 14 Georgia Tech* (ACCN) 7 p.m. Feb. 21 at Louisville* (ESPN/2/U) 7 p.m. Feb. 24 at Syracuse* (ESPN/2) 12 p.m. Feb. 27 Wake Forest (ACCN) 9 p.m. Mar. 2 Clemson* (CW) 7:45 p.m. Mar. 5 at North Carolina* (ACCN) 7 p.m. Mar. 9 at Virginia Tech* (ESPNEWS) 2 p.m. Mar. 12-16 ACC Tournament TBA # Legend's Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.; * ACC game; % ACC/SEC Challenge; $ at Washington, D.C.