Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 NOV. 29, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE N otre Dame's 64-63 loss to Ohio State Nov. 16 did what an early non- conference test is supposed to do. It actually answered some questions we had about the Irish in the affirmative. For example, Notre Dame fans should feel much better about seventh-year senior forward Carson Towt (8 points, 12 rebounds) translating to stronger competition, because he was fantastic against the Buckeyes. Freshman guard Jalen Haralson (13 points, 3 assists) also reaffirms his status as a tremendous ad- dition with every game he plays. Ohio State center Christoph Tilly broke Notre Dame's hearts with a tough, go-ahead layup with 13 seconds to go. But overall, this was an encouraging ef- fort, on the road, against a team many expect to play in mid-March. "I still am able to read a bunch of stuff early in the year, and everybody's saying [Ohio State is] an NCAA Tournament team right there," head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "We came in here in front of 13,000 and went toe to toe with them. So, what's that make us?" Why didn't the Irish pull it out? There are a few reasons, most of which are easily correctable. Haralson and soph- omore guard Sir Mohammed (another player who looks very good in the early going) missed uncontested layups. The Irish went 12 of 20 from the foul line; Towt went 0 of 3 and is a career 41.9 percent free throw shooter, but the rest of the team needs to be better. As for the late-game offense, junior guard Markus Burton — who missed Notre Dame's final three shot attempts — will realize over time that playing hero ball is no longer necessary with the added talent around him. With the exception of Towt's free throw shooting, which the Irish knew they would have to work around when they took him, all of this can be fixed. But there is one issue, which popped up in both the loss to Ohio State and the win over Eastern Illinois Nov. 11, that might be a longer-term problem. SHOOTERS MUST KEEP THEMSELVES ON THE COURT Notre Dame has excellent three-point shooting depth, at least in theory. You saw it in Game 1, when sopho- more guard Cole Certa and freshman forward Ryder Frost combined for 37 points on 10 made threes. You saw it in Game 2, when freshman forward Brady Koehler knocked down 2 triples. Their success is so important to Notre Dame's success, but in Games 3 and 4, Certa, Frost and Koehler quickly fell out of fa- vor with Shrewsberry. Why? He couldn't trust them. "Sometimes I can't go back to you," Shrewsberry said after the win over Eastern Illinois. "Sometimes your best lesson is sitting and watching a little bit. … I didn't feel like they were at the right urgency for a game like this." Shrewsberry hoped to go back to Certa, Koehler and Frost at Ohio State, but they played only 8, 7 and 2 minutes, respec- tively. When Shrewsberry does not trust you to execute your defensive assignment, he can't play you — despite the damage your absence does to the game plan. Sophomore forward Garrett Sun- dra can knock down threes, but he only played 20 minutes due to foul trouble. That meant for much of the game, junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry was the only player on the court who's listed on the scouting report as a shooter. And as a result, Notre Dame's offense suffered. The Irish actually outplayed the Buckeyes for most of the afternoon. But when you shoot only 10 three-pointers and make 3, it's hard to win college bas- ketball games. Can this change by the end of the sea- son? Absolutely. Certa made significant progress Nov. 19 against Bellarmine when he played 20 minutes and scored 12 points. "I'm proud of Cole," Shrewsberry said. "To come out tonight and respond to Ohio State Loss Leaves Notre Dame Wanting More MEN'S B A S K E T B A L L Ohio State center Christoph Tilly broke Notre Dame's hearts with a tough, go-ahead layup with 13 sec- onds to go in the Buckeyes' 64-63 victory Nov. 16. PHOTO COURTESY OHIO STATE