Before Notre Dame men’s basketball’s 102-70 defeat of Detroit Mercy on Friday night, head coach Micah Shrewsberry told his team, “There’s people that might not normally come that will be here tonight. Let’s make them come back.” Shrewsberry was well aware of all the ramifications that come with playing a basketball game at Notre Dame on a football weekend. And he used this unique opportunity to fuel his team, motivating his players to put on a show in front of not only the local South Bend crowd, but all the Irish fans on campus for the weekend.
Despite the high-scoring final result, both offenses struggled in the opening minutes of the first half. The game quickly turned into a high-paced, up-and-down game with both teams favoring pushing the tempo. The Titans struggled to score in the interior, and the Irish defense was able to limit them to scoring only 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the half. The Irish offense was most definitely limited after junior guard Markus Burton picked up two early fouls, and junior Logan Imes and sophomore Sir Mohammed took over the reins of point guard.
But the threes eventually began to fall for the Irish as back-to-back triples from junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry and sophomore guard Cole Certa sparked an offensive explosion. Midway through the half, freshman forward Brady Koehler found himself on a personal 5-0 run after knocking down a three and scoring a layup, stretching the Irish lead to double digits. The long ball certainly helped the Irish pull away from the Titans in the first half, led by Shrewsberry, who finished the half with 16 points on 4-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Notre Dame was able to establish a 44-31 lead at the half.
The impressive scoring continued into the second half with Burton now joining in on the fun. After finishing the first half with only a single point, Burton got his offensive game going with an and-one followed by a made 3-pointer in back-to-back possessions. After knocking down the triple, Burton turned immediately to the Detroit Mercy bench with his hand over his veins, raising the tension between the two teams. From there on, the Irish ran away with the lead due to their offensive successes, concluding the game with a final score of 102-70.
Perhaps the most impressive part of this game was the depth the Irish displayed. The scoring was headlined by Shrewsberry’s 19 points, but five other players finished the game in double figures.
A pair of freshmen in Ryder Frost and Brady Koehler put up 10 points off the bench, and Mohammed scored 10. And following up on his impressive 19-rebound game against LIU, graduate forward Carson Towt recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Burton even got his share of scoring, finishing with 13 points despite the early foul trouble.
Speaking on this depth and balanced scoring, Micah Shrewsberry said, “There’s no separation. It’s 11 guys that are capable, and you just plug and play, right? You start the game and there is no [freshman guard] Jalen Haralson, and Markus picks up two fouls in the first couple minutes and it’s like, ‘OK, go to him, go to him, go to him.’” This scoring is even more impressive considering that star freshman Haralson was out due to a concussion he suffered in the previous game against LIU.
Shrewsberry’s team also seems to be playing with great energy. After every basket, the whole bench, including the entire coaching staff, was out of their seats and hyping up the guys on the court. Considering the team went 15-18 last season, it is promising to see so much joy and excitement radiating from the entire team and coaching staff.
Speaking to the energetic environment that the team has fostered, Micah Shrewsberry said, “They just have joy on a daily basis. They love competing together, and they get after each other in practice, but they love being around each other.”
Shrewsberry also described this joy and this energy as being a collective effort, saying, “It started with those seven guys coming back, and then the guys that come in, like Jalen Haralson has joy every day, Carson Towt has joy every day.” The team seems to have found a great sense of love for one another, certainly something that will help them sustain success throughout the year.
The next opponent for the Irish is Eastern Illinois. The Panthers are currently 1-1 on the season after falling in their season opener to Valparaiso and defeating Nicholls on Friday night.
Last season, the Panthers finished the season with a struggling record of 12-19 on the season and finished seventh in the Ohio Valley Conference. Head coach Marty Simmons is hoping to bring the Panthers back to success in the OVC, as they have a combined record of 49-103 in the past five seasons. Eastern Illinois has not finished the season above .500 since the 2019-20 season, highlighting the struggling years they have endured as of late.
In the first two games of the season, Eastern Illinois’s senior guard Zion Fruster has been its leading scorer. In the season opener, Fruster recorded 12 points and scored 25 points in the victory against Nicholls. Fruster possesses a threat for the Irish defense at multiple levels with his scoring ability at the rim as well as his 3-point shooting, where he went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc against Nicholls. Fruster is now in his second season with the Panthers after transferring from Virginia Wise after two seasons.
The Irish will look to improve to 3-0 on the season and keep up their positive energy at Purcell Pavilion this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
