Notre Dame’s offense is a clear problem for the Markus Burton-less Irish in the midst of a slump, and Micah Shrewsberry is the only one who can fix it.
Notre Dame’s offense has started ACC play in a significant rut, and it will need significant changes to turn the season around. Notre Dame has not broken 80 points in nearly a month since its 82-58 win against Evansville. The struggles go hand in hand with the absence of junior guard Markus Burton, who suffered an ankle injury against TCU on Dec. 5. Losing the near 20-point per game scorer and one of the strongest offensive hubs in the ACC has hit the Irish offense hard. This downturn in offensive efficiency has directly led to a 1-5 start in ACC play.
The offensive woes from Burton’s void began to manifest in the 72-69 loss to Purdue Fort Wayne on Dec. 21. Notre Dame has gone 1-6, including a 1-5 start in league play since the devastating home loss. The only victory came on the road at Stanford, in what can only be described as a bizarre 47-40 win where both teams shot below 33% from the field and 20% from three-point range.
Micah Shrewsberry’s defense has improved in the 2025-26 season from one year ago, but it has been unable to cover up fatal shortcomings on offense. In conference play, Notre Dame is scoring 64.8 on average while giving up 71.6. The more concerning measure on offense has been the lack of ball movement, early offense and quality shots for Notre Dame. Notre Dame has shot the three-pointer well at 36% as a team, but since Burton’s departure and the defensive adjustment in ACC play, this percent has plummeted.
Without secondary ball-handling help, Notre Dame is turning to forwards and guards without the confidence or experience to run the offense and it simply has not produced. Notre Dame is currently last in the ACC in turnover margin at -2.61 and last in assist to turnover ratio at 0.98. This means that for every Notre Dame assist, the offense produces 2.61 turnovers.
After the best recruiting class in program history, nobody can deny the talent in South Bend. I would however, expect more help to stitch a bumpy stretch for the Irish. It just hasn’t been there. Freshman forward Jalen Haralson has been leading the Irish in scoring since Burton’s injury, but his work revolves around the paint, drawing contact and passing to open shooters. The Irish have put the heavy offensive burden on Haralson and junior guards Logan Imes and Braeden Shrewsberry, which has resulted in Haralson averaging 2.4 assists compared to 2.9 turnovers per game. It’s unfair to throw the blame on Haralson, a first-year forward who has yet to finish a season in college to run the offense, when his skillset is tuned off the ball as a slasher. On the other hand, Notre Dame does need to complete an honest assessment of skillsets and offensive system for a group that is struggling to put the ball in the hoop.
Offensive woes without Markus Burton are nothing new for Notre Dame. In each of Shrewsberry’s first two seasons, Notre Dame has operated without Burton for a period in the season that resulted in offensive issues. It is fair to ask the question of how Notre Dame has used the transfer portal, particularly with adding complementary ball handling and rebounding. Notre Dame added graduate forward Carson Towt to help in the front-court, the Northern Arizona transfer averaging 9.9 rebounds for the Irish. On the ball-handling side, Notre Dame is stacked with guards who can shoot and play off the ball, but these players lack the skills and confidence to truly lead an offense by creating for others. That was up to Burton.
It’s not a question of talent for Notre Dame, but more so a question of personnel and grouping. Notre Dame has shooting in Shrewsberry, sophomore guard Cole Certa and freshman forward Brady Koehler, all three shooting over 38% from beyond the arc. The Irish have defensive-minded forwards and wings in Towt, Haralson, and sophomore guard Sir Mohammed. The positions of need this season happen to be center and point guard, which have been exacerbated by injuries to Burton and senior big man Kebba Njie, who is out for the season with a knee problem. Njie’s absence will be felt, as the Irish are already last in the ACC in blocked shots and steals.
So what can Notre Dame do to turn the season around? Change the offensive pace. It often takes the entire shot clock for the Irish to generate a good offensive look rather than attacking early. The team’s offense runs the best in transition, thus, it must structure an offense around shooting early in the shot clock and attacking the paint. Pushing the ball up the court immediately off the inbounds can put the opposing defense in scramble mode rather than allowing set defenses to pick apart the Irish ball-handling and high screens for shooting. It can’t hurt Notre Dame more to try different initiation looks for a struggling ball-handling backcourt.
All of these offensive woes come at a time when the Irish need points. The weekend matchup is against the lowly Boston College Eagles. This BC team is just 9-10 on the year, but has won back-to-back ACC home contests against Syrcause and Pittsburgh.
Notre Dame needs to look to shoot three-pointers and build a lead early to get the Irish crowd involved. Shrewsberry is the key player for Notre Dame’s offense as he has been ice cold so far in conference play. He has shot a combined 89-34 from beyond the arc so far in conference play, despite still holding a total of 42.5% on the season. Regaining his groove should coincide with an improved offensive effort, helping the Irish to get back on track and snap the skid.
Notre Dame now takes on Boston College at 6 p.m. on Jan. 24. A win at home over the struggling Eagles is necessary for Shrewsberry, who is fighting to keep this season from going off the rails in one of its toughest stretches.
