Irish Men’s Basketball returned to the win column in front of their home crowd on Saturday afternoon after a 76-72 victory over the Pitt Panthers.
Photo via Notre Dame Athletics
With Braeden Shrewsberry and Matt Allocco out with injuries, the Irish offense needed to find a way to put points on the board without their key guards. The first half was a back-and-forth affair as the teams could not separate by halftime. With 11:22 to play in the first, Pitt took their largest lead of the half following a Cameron Corhen jumper that gave the Panthers a 15-10 lead. Corhen led all first-half scorers with 14 points on 6/7 shooting from the field. Notre Dame’s Markus Burton buried a jumper with seven seconds on the clock to send the game into halftime tied 30-30. While Burton contributed nine points in the half, Tae Davis led the Irish offense with 12 points on 5-6 shooting from the field including a three.
Despite both sides struggling to hit from deep, combining for 4-14 from three, they both shot over 56% from the field. Additionally, both offenses turned the ball over eight times apiece as the Irish’s Sir Mohammed secured two steals in his 11 minutes played.
This back-and-forth contest continued into the second half as it seemed neither side was capable of pulling away. That was until with 5:39 to play as Burton kickstarted an 8-0 Irish run that resulted in the home team owning an 11-point, 67-56 lead with under three minutes remaining in the game. Burton scored six of the Irish’s eight points on that game-defining run. However, the Panthers did not go away easily as they managed to cut the Irish lead down to three with 23 seconds left following a trio of clutch threes from Ishmael Leggett. With eight seconds on the clock, Pitt’s Brandin Cummings tipped in a missed three to cut the Irish lead all the way down to two, 74-72. Needing a foul, the Panthers sent Notre Dame’s J.R. Konieczny to the line and he was able to ice the game, draining both free throws to give the Irish a 76-72 victory.
Notre Dame had four scorers with nine or more points in the second half, led by Cole Certa’s 12 points off of three made three-pointers on four attempts. Burton had 11 and Konieczny added 10 in the second half as the Irish outscored the Panthers 46-42 in the frame. Pitt’s Leggett led all second-half scorers with 15 points on 6/10 shooting from the field including his three late-game three-pointers. Both offenses played well, combining for just five total turnovers in the half but it was Pitt’s poor free throw shooting that gave Notre Dame the winning edge as they shot just 7-14 from the line.
Irish Stars:
Tae Davis: 21 points (8-11 FGs), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, +3
Markus Burton: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, +6
Kebba Njie: 8 points (4-7 FGs), 7 rebounds, 1 steal, +4
Next, the Irish travel to Clemson on Wednesday to take on the 18th-ranked Tigers.
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