Notre Dame men’s basketball lost in a heartbreaker to Ohio State in its first away game of the season, 64-63, after senior center Christoph Tilly made a clutch layup to give the Buckeyes the lead and the eventual win. This matchup was certainly seen as Notre Dame’s first real test of the season, and it proved to be just that. Junior guard Markus Burton led Notre Dame in scoring with 14 points, but he shot a poor 3-14 from the field. On the other hand, freshman guard Jalen Haralson had another strong showing with 13 points on 5-10 shooting off the bench. Ohio State was led by senior guard Bruce Thornton, who was giving the Irish headaches all afternoon and ended the game with 24 points. Tilly also shone for the Buckeyes with 18 points and his basket in the final seconds.
In the first half, Notre Dame’s defense stuck out, forcing Ohio State into long offensive possessions and taking tough shots. The Irish outscored the Buckeyes 24-8 in the paint by halftime and seemed to be controlling the tempo of the game. In the first half, the Buckeyes did more of their scoring on the perimeter, with Notre Dame being more physical in the paint. Notre Dame walked into the locker room at halftime feeling confident with a 34-31 lead on the road.
The second half saw the Buckeyes rally. Thornton’s aggressiveness changed at half, with his energy and willingness to find his own shots ramping up. Thornton was shifty in the pick-and-roll and was scoring both on the perimeter and in the paint, making a variety of difficult shots at big moments in the game. Ohio State finally rallied and took a 48-46 lead around midway through the second half, and it was clear they had stolen the momentum away from the Irish. After that, the Buckeyes seemed to be more poised and relaxed than the Irish, and being at home definitely helped that. It seemed like they were close to pulling away from Notre Dame, but the Irish refused to back down.
With a lot of ties and changes of the lead, junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry stole the lead back from the Buckeyes with a big three to put his team up 64-63 with a little over two minutes left. It looked like Notre Dame was going to close the game out at that point, but Ohio State had other plans. After Notre Dame missed a big opportunity to extend the lead with under a minute left, Ohio State called timeout to set up the eventual winning play. With under 30 seconds left, Tilly drove to the basket and converted a strong lefthanded layup over multiple Irish defenders.
Notre Dame then had one last chance with 13 seconds left, and it was clear that Burton would be attempting that final shot. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry opted not to call timeout in the remaining seconds of the game, and the Irish’s final effort seemed to turn into a broken play. With around five seconds left, Burton made a move, going to the right wing and attempting a tough fadeaway 3-point jumper, which did not fall, confirming Notre Dame’s first loss of the season.
Irish fans are hoping this loss isn’t a sign of things to come, especially when it comes to closing out big games. It seemed to be an instance of playing a more well-rounded game than the other team but not being able to make the big plays to take the victory.
Conversely, there were positives to take away from the game, especially with it being so early in the season. Haralson seems to be an emerging star and a reliable scorer for the Irish, and while Markus Burton did not have his best game, the Irish were still very much in the game the whole way. Coach Shrewsberry seems to trust his bench right now, playing 11 different players in the game, but he will also be looking to tighten the rotation and see who he can truly trust in conference play and the postseason. Ultimately, this was a good effort for a Notre Dame team that is still figuring out who they are early in the season.
Notre Dame will return home and face Bellarmine on Tuesday before heading to Las Vegas, where it will have another opportunity for a big win when it plays Kansas.
