Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541687
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2025 37 find Tiller for an easy two. Particularly once star point guard Darryn Peterson (hamstring) comes back, this is a win- ning formula for the Jayhawks. For the Irish, meanwhile, Towt can't do this himself. He needs more help from Garrett Sundra, Kebba Njie and Brady Koehler at some point this sea- son, and right now, he's not getting it. FAMILIAR STRUGGLES NEARLY COST THE IRISH AGAINST RUTGERS Notre Dame defeated Rutgers 68-63, but a five-point win after the Fighting Irish led by as many as 19 in the first half was not exactly satisfying. Bear in mind, this was a Rutgers team that lost to No. 17 Tennessee by 25 and the day before and fell to Central Connecticut by 13 at home in its final tune-up before Las Vegas. A loss would have been disastrous, but the way Notre Dame finished the game looked all too familiar. In the final 2:14 — during which the Irish did not score — Burton fouled a three-point shooter, Tariq Francis, who made all three free throws. Then Bur- ton committed a turnover when a trap turned into a held ball. The Irish were later called for a five- second violation against a press. Both Sundra and junior guard Logan Imes also missed the front ends of one-and- one free throw attempts. Fortunately for Notre Dame, Rutgers didn't take full advantage of those mis- takes. The Scarlet Knights missed free throws and three-pointers to allow the Irish to escape with a victory. "Some of our mistakes were kind of self-inflicted," Shrewsberry said. "But there were moments where we did play with some calm and we got some bas- kets to kind of weather the storm. That's important for us to get and see early in the season." While true, there were also mo- ments where a better opponent could have punished the Fighting Irish with a loss. But the moments that built Notre Dame's 19-point lead were genuinely encouraging. When the Irish found their groove in the first half, they looked like the ver- sion this team hopes it can become more consistently. They moved the ball well on offense, provided some defensive pressure with four steals in the first half and outrebounded Rutgers, 20-13. NOTRE DAME SHOWS FIGHT AGAINST HOUSTON No one expected Notre Dame to beat Houston, an obvious national title contender, on barely 24 hours' rest. The Cougars return three start- ers from last year's team, including Sharp, and they filled out the rest of the lineup with five-star freshmen in guard Kingston Flemings and center Chris Cenac Jr. But no one expected the Fighting Irish to look hopeless through 12-plus min- utes, either. Notre Dame had zero points at the under-16 timeout. It had four at the un- der-12. Of its first 18 points, nine came on threes that hit the rim, the back- board or both. It could have been worse against a smothering Houston defense that barely let the Irish penetrate be- yond the three-point line at times. "I'm proud of our effort, but I'm not proud of how we started the game," Shrewsberry said. "I thought we were too anxious, too jittery. And I thought they set the tone of the game, and then we were playing catch-up all the time." Again, Notre Dame's weakness in the frontcourt showed up. The Cou- gars were unconcerned about the Irish throwing the ball inside and getting a bucket, so they put all the pressure they possibly could on the guards. That being said, to climb back into the game showed the Irish, at their best, can compete with a champi- onship contender at a neutral site. Whether Notre Dame can play its best consistently enough for that to matter remains to be seen. ✦ Freshman guard Jalen Haralson tallied 15 points to help Notre Dame knock off Rutgers 68-63 Nov. 25. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS 2025-26 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET)/Result Nov. 3 LIU Brooklyn W, 89-67 Nov. 7 Detroit Mercy W, 102-70 Nov. 11 Eastern Illinois W, 78-58 Nov. 16 at Ohio State L, 64-63 Nov. 19 Bellarmine W, 86-79 Nov. 24 vs. Kansas+ L, 71-61 Nov. 25 vs. Rutgers+ W, 68-63 Nov. 26 vs. Houston+ L, 66-56 Dec. 2 Missouri^ (ESPNU) 9 p.m. Dec. 5 at TCU (ESPN+) 8 p.m. Dec. 10 Idaho (ACCNX) 7 p.m. Dec. 13 Evansville (ACCNX) 2 p.m. Dec. 21 Purdue Fort Wayne (ACCNX) 12 p.m. Dec. 30 at Stanford* (ESPN2) 9 p.m. Jan. 2 at California* (ESPN2) 11 p.m. Jan. 10 Clemson* (ESPN2/U) 6 p.m. Jan. 13 Miami* (ESPN2/U) 7 p.m. Jan. 17 at Virginia Tech* (ACCN) 12 p.m. Jan. 21 at North Carolina* (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Jan. 24 Boston College* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 27 Virginia* (ESPN/2/U) 7 p.m. Jan. 31 at Syracuse* (The CW) 6 p.m. Feb. 4 at Louisville* (ESPN2/U) 7 p.m. Feb. 7 Florida State* (ACCN) 4 p.m. Feb. 10 at SMU* (ACCN) 7 p.m. Feb. 14 Georgia Tech* (The CW) 12 p.m. Feb. 21 at Pittsburgh* (ACCN) 2 p.m. Feb. 24 Duke* (ESPN/2/U) 7 p.m. Feb. 28 NC State* (The CW) 12 p.m. March 4 Stanford* (ESPNU) 9 p.m. March 7 at Boston College* (ESPNU) 12 p.m. + Players Era Championship in Las Vegas (other teams involved were Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Creighton, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, San Diego State, St. John's, Syracuse, Tennessee and UNLV); ^ ACC/SEC Chal- lenge; * ACC Game