The Notre Dame men’s basketball team traveled to Dallas to take on the SMU Mustangs, where they suffered another tough loss, 89-81, in a game where they were highly competitive. Freshman guard Jalen Haralson had another strong showing with 23 points on nine-of-13 shooting, but it wasn’t enough to outshine SMU’s offensive performance. Senior guard Jaron Pierre led the way for the Mustangs with 22 points, doing the majority of his damage in the second-half. Senior guard Boopie Miller also had a 20-point performance with a huge first half. Pierre and Miller played off of each other well and gave the Irish’s defense trouble all game. Sophomore center Samet Yigitoglu was a force in the paint for the Mustangs, adding 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore and junior guards Cole Certa and Braeden Shrewsberry both added 16 points each for Notre Dame.
In the first half of the game, SMU got off to a hot start behind Miller’s 18 points, doing a lot of work from behind the three-point line, making four shots in the first half. The tempo in the first half was quick, with both teams trying to work in transition to get quick shots on the perimeter and in the paint. Both teams were firing behind the three-point line; the Mustangs totaled 8 threes in the first half, while the Irish had 6. Both teams were highly efficient behind the line, with SMU shooting 53% and Notre Dame 50%. Haralson led the way with ten points while Certa added nine and Shrewsberry contributed seven points in the first half. The Mustangs took multiple double-digit leads, but the Irish continued to fight back and cut the deficit to six points with the score being 43-37 going into halftime.
In the second half of the game, Notre Dame got off to a great start, taking a 48-45 lead with an 11-2 run behind strong defensive positions and spreading the wealth on offense with a few different scorers. Around the 14-minute mark, SMU took the momentum back as they got significantly more aggressive on defense, causing errant passes and providing themselves with easy looks in the paint. With around 11 minutes left, the Mustangs went on a 14-0 run in just three minutes, taking a 64 to 50 lead.
A common theme all season continued with the Irish fighting back throughout the second half. SMU seemed to be pulling away, but again Notre Dame cut the lead down to six behind big plays from Certa and freshman forward Brady Koehler. In the late minutes of the game, the Irish and Mustangs were trading buckets, but Notre Dame couldn’t get enough stops to cut the lead any closer than six, and they finally lost by eight. This was another instance that the Irish have become familiar with, where they were competing all game long with one of the top teams in the ACC, but simply couldn't get over the hump.
The loss of junior guard Markus Burton has been magnified in these excruciating close games as of late, where they look to be a few plays away from a big win. While this was another tough defeat for Notre Dame, it is another game that shows the Irish have the young pieces that could make noise in years to come with development and experience.
Another positive to take away from this game and recent ACC games is the huge development of Certa, who has asserted himself as a dangerous scorer and one of the top shooters in the ACC. Haralson, Shrewsberry, and Certa have proved to be consistent scorers for the Irish, and with Burton returning next year, they will be a team to watch out for in the ACC.
Notre Dame will return home to face Georgia Tech on Saturday, where they will hope to get back in the win column coming off five straight ACC losses.
