Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2026 39 Wayne doesn't really do the loss justice, because this was not a fluke. Purdue Fort Wayne led for 35:25, while Notre Dame led for 2:30. While the Mastodons did make some difficult three-point shots, they didn't exactly shoot out of their minds, either (31.4 percent from beyond the arc). Notre Dame dominated the offensive glass (14-5 in favor of the Irish), but as Shrewsberry said, you can't rebound your turnovers (15-8 in favor of the Mastodons). More to the point, Purdue Fort Wayne looked quicker. More connected. The Mastodons appeared to want it more. They were everything Notre Dame prided itself on being throughout its 9-3 start, which included six other buy games such as this. The Irish took care of business in all six, with the closest game being a seven-point win over Bellarmine. And even then, Notre Dame led by 20 with 10 minutes to go. It had taken care of business every time it needed to, except against Purdue Fort Wayne. "I thought we had a good day at prac- tice yesterday and I thought we were ready to go," junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry said. "At least from my point of view, I didn't think there was any difference from some of the other buy games. We just didn't play well. And we can't afford to play that bad in a game like this." Time and time again, Micah Shrews- berry told the media about the pitfalls of early buy games, especially the ones between Thanksgiving and Christmas. He said after the Evansville game that if you look at scores throughout the holi- day season, teams lose those buy games because their minds are elsewhere. Apparently, his team didn't get the memo. "You talk about it, you talk about it, you talk about it," Shrewsberry said. "Total lack of leadership, and that starts with me. Maybe I don't talk about it enough. That's on me that we came out and played that way." It is difficult to overstate the differ- ence between 10-5 with zero Quad 4 losses and 11-4 with one. Not just for Notre Dame's NCAA Tournament ré- sumé, which is kaput barring an unex- pected run in ACC play, but for the vibes around the program. Shrewsberry and company needed to show progress this season, and they had. Nearly stealing a road game at Ohio State was progress. Beating Missouri and TCU in down-to-the wire match- ups was progress. Taking care of all their buy games and erasing the memory of Western Carolina, The Citadel and Elon would have been progress. All that might have been enough to restore some buzz around the program and bring some relevance to ACC play. RESTRAINED AND REPRIMANDED With 9.9 seconds remaining, Notre Dame led Cal 71-68. The Irish had done impressive work to get themselves to that point, on the verge of sweeping their West Coast road trip against Stan- ford and Cal. Junior guard Logan Imes hounded Cal junior guard Dai Dai Ames up the court, clearly trying to give a foul. But by the time Imes reached Ames and did foul him, Cal's leading scorer had reached his spot. Ames rose up, knocked down the three-pointer from the left wing. The official closest to the play ruled that Imes had fouled Ames in the act of shooting, giving the Golden Bears three points to tie the game and an op- portunity for one more to take the lead. Ames hit the free throw, giving Cal a one-point advantage with 5.5 seconds to go. Chaos ensued as the refs huddled to discuss their call. They changed it to a foul on the floor, apparently letting Notre Dame off the hook. But after fur- ther discussion, they changed it back to a made basket. Notre Dame had one more chance at the other end, but junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. As soon as the ball careened away from the basket, Micah Shrews- berry turned his attention toward the referee who made the call. Shrewsberry ran toward the official, clearly incensed about what had just transpired. He had to be held back by multiple players (freshman Tommy Ahneman and graduate student Mat- thew MacLellan). Assistant coaches Ryan Owens and Matt Farrelly tried to get in Shrewsberry's way as well. Toward the end of the clip that would circulate widely on social media, Owens appeared to yell "No!" at Shrewsberry several times. Fellow assistant coach Tre Whitted had what appeared to be pointed words for his boss as well. Shrewsberry received an official rep- rimand from the ACC for violating its sportsmanship policy afterward, saying the "unsportsmanlike behavior that was displayed is unacceptable and tarnishes the on-court play between these insti- tutions." Fortunately for him and the Irish, he was not suspended, and if he was fined, it was handled privately. Shrewsberry released a statement of his own, too. "I want to apologize for what took place immediately after the Cal game last night," Shrewsberry said. "My ac- tions were inappropriate and not sym- bolic of the leader I strive to be and what Notre Dame expects of its coaches and educators. I will learn from this lack of judgement and be better in the future. "I want to apologize to our team, our university and its leaders, to Coach Madsen and his team, and to the ACC, as my actions were unacceptable." ✦ 2025-26 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE (10-5 OVERALL, 1-1 ACC) 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^ W, 76-71 Dec. 5 at TCU W, 87-85 (OT) Dec. 10 Idaho W, 80-65 Dec. 13 Evansville W, 82-58 Dec. 21 Purdue Fort Wayne L, 72-69 Dec. 30 at Stanford* W, 47-40 Jan. 2 at California* L, 72-71 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; ^ ACC/SEC Challenge; * ACC Game