Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2025 73 BY JACK SOBLE M arkus Burton is back, and on Jan. 4, Notre Dame men's basketball nearly pulled off its first signature win of the 2024-25 season. But in the final seconds, the Irish let it slip through their fingers. With the Irish holding a three-point lead and 4.8 seconds left against North Carolina, sophomore Tar Heels guard Elliot Cadeau fired a three-pointer from the right wing. Graduate student Notre Dame guard Matt Allocco, the transfer from Princeton, closed out on him too aggressively. Allocco fouled Cadeau in the act of shooting, and he watched the attempt swish through the basket. "I should've fouled," Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "You get in that situation, you foul every single time, up three. Fourteen, almost 15 sec- onds left, we were gonna wait a little bit, but then it got away from us." Cadeau made the ensuing free throw, and Burton's running layup attempt at the other end hit the backboard but missed the rim. The Irish lost 74-73, and fell to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the ACC af- ter suffering another one-point defeat (66-65) at North Carolina State Jan. 8. "I let them down at the end," Shrews- berry said. "I apologize to them, apol- ogize to all the Notre Dame fans who came and stuck with us. I'll get better from this and I'll grow from this." Burton returned after a knee (specifi- cally MCL) injury sidelined him for 39 days. He missed eight games, including the loss to Rutgers in which he got hurt before the under-16 timeout. Notre Dame finished that stretch 3-5 with wins over Syracuse, Dartmouth and Le Moyne. Shrewsberry brought Burton in off the bench, and he took the floor to re- sounding cheers from the Purcell Pa- vilion Crowd in South Bend. He didn't make his first basket until 5:35 remained in the first half, but after Notre Dame entered the halftime break down 39-32, he exploded and nearly won the game. "He's just a warrior, man," Shrews- berry said. "He's worked his ass off to be able to get back and play." Burton scored 17 points in the second half and 23 in the game, shooting 7 of 14 from the field and 9 of 10 from the free throw line. "Some people would be scared to come back against North Carolina," Shrewsberry said. "Like, 'Man, let's hold off until we play somebody not as good.' He ain't ducking anybody. He wanted to be out here. He wanted to help his team, and that's what he did." The two players who had to carry the load with the star sophomore guard out, sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry and junior forward Tae Davis, scored 16 and 17 points, respectively. Still, the Irish couldn't get it done in the final seconds, nor could they stop North Carolina freshman guard Ian Jack- son. In the midst of a breakout stretch, Jackson scored 27 points, giving him at least 23 in each of his last four outings. Perhaps most frustrating for Shrews- berry and company is that it was Allocco, again, with the critical mistake down the stretch. He is Notre Dame's veteran leader whose presence was supposed to stabi- lize the Irish in late-game situations. But in their loss to Elon Nov. 22, he made a bad-pass turnover that led to a fast-break bucket and a Phoenix lead that Notre Dame would never retake. And in the heartbreaker against North Carolina, he committed a cardinal sin: fouling a three- point shooter with a three-point lead. "I've been in that situation, and I let us down right there," Allocco said. "That was my fault." Burton's return — and, crucially, re- turn to full form — gives the Irish hope as the calendar turns to 2025. Short of a dominant run in league play, his in- jury may have nixed Notre Dame's NCAA Tournament chances, but building mo- mentum into next season would be huge. Presuming Burton, Braeden Shrews- berry and Davis return, the Irish will wel- come a stacked 2025 recruiting class and should be an attractive destination for graduate transfers looking to win in their final year of eligibility. If the remainder of the 2024-25 season goes well, 2025-26 may look like Notre Dame's year. That would have been impossible without Burton, but the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year is back. But so, too, are the issues closing games that the Irish hoped were behind them. ✦ Markus Burton Returns But Notre Dame Loses Heartbreaker Burton, who was sidelined for eight games due to a knee injury, came off the bench to score 23 points, but Notre Dame fell 74-73 to North Carolina Jan. 4. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MEN'S B A S K E T B A L L RECENT GAME RESULTS Date Opponent Result Dec. 11 Dartmouth W, 77-65 Dec. 22 Le Moyne W, 91-62 Dec. 31 at Georgia Tech L, 86-75 Jan. 4 North Carolina* L, 74-73 Jan. 8 at NC State* L, 66-65 * ACC game