Written by: Jhett GarrettWriter | Twitter/X: @JhettGarrett
Photo by The Irish Tribune
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost their fourth straight game this past Saturday at home against Boston College, 61-58. J.R. Konieczny led the way for the Irish in scoring, finishing with 15 points on 5-16 shooting (2-8 from three). It was the unforced turnovers and yet another poor performance from beyond the arc that led to the three-point loss.
It was once again the way the Irish played when it mattered most, with scoring droughts totaling over ten minutes of play, Notre Dame just couldn’t keep their foot on the gas. “Sometimes you've got to break habits to build habits,” said Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry after the game, “So we've got to keep breaking habits until we build them.” Notre Dame only put up 23 points in the first half and didn’t reach double digits until 8:33 left in the first half.
“I think Groundhog Day is in February,” Shrewsberry said, “But for us, Groundhog Day has been every single time we’ve had a game.” Notre Dame had every chance to come out with a victory, especially at the 4:03 mark in the second half when the Eagle’s star player, Quinten Post, fouled out finishing with 10 points.
Post, the 7-footer from the Netherlands, went scoreless in the first half, but found a rhythm in the second. He was guarded well by the Irish in the first half of the game, but after getting his first shot to fall 58 seconds into the second half he did not look back. The junior is averaging 17 points per game, 7.6 rebounds, and just under 3 assists. Post reached none of these marks in the ball game and shot 40% from the field.
Turnovers weren’t a massive problem in this one, however, 13 is still not the target number for the Irish. Markus Burton led the team in turnovers with 5. “Very frustrating,” Shrewsberry said. “That’s one of the things holding us back.” Notre Dame didn’t turn the ball over a single time in the final 4:28 of the game.
The Irish faced not one, but two different scoring droughts. The second starting at 5:33 in 2nd half, which lasted four minutes and eleven seconds. “We’ve gone back and tried to really simplify what we do,” Shrewsberry said. “I’ve changed a lot of stuff to make it as simple as possible for us.” Markus Burton was the man who ended the drought towards the end of the game, and did so immediately after coming off the bench.
Burton had gone to the bench with 4:26 remaining in the game and did not come back in until there was 1:29 left. He converted an and-one just eight seconds after entering back into the game, which cut the lead back to two. Unfortunately for the Irish, this would be the last time they would score until Braden Shrewsberry knocked down a three with just one second left on the clock. These were the only two field goals for the Irish in the final 5:33 of the game.
“If I change one or two things we’re probably winning” Coach Shrewsberry said. He continued to hammer home that he is simplifying the system in an attempt to take the thinking out of the games. The Irish are averaging exactly 59 points per game in their last four contests.
Micah Shrewsberry was vocal about the way that Notre Dame has played 20 games into the season. He felt as if they had played too scared at times and left a lot of windows of opportunity open. “Instead of worrying whether the stove is hot or not man touch the stove. S*** might hurt a little bit, but who cares.” Expect the Irish to come out with more intensity in their next contest.
Notre Dame will go on the road for three straight games including matchups with Virginia, who the Irish beat by 22 at home and scored 76 against, Pittsburgh, and finally Duke. They will be back in Purcell Pavilion on February 10th to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies.
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