Game Thread | Maryland Eastern Shore at Notre Dame
Maryland Eastern Shore (2-2 vs. Notre Dame (2-2)
Date: November 22
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion | South Bend, Ind.
TV: ACC Network Extra | Conor Clingen, Mike Lightfoot and Dara Mabrey
Line: Notre Dame -11.5
O/U: 134.5
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame and Maryland-Eastern Shore will meet for the first time on Wednesday.
- Jason Crafton is in his fourth year at UMES and holds a record of 36-58.
- Freshman Carey Booth leads the Irish in three-point shooting percentage at 41.2%.
- Freshman Markus Burton leads all ACC freshmen in scoring at 19.5 ppg.
- Burton has scored in double-figures in his first four games in the. blue and gold.
PROJECTED STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Markus Burton | 19.5 | 3.5 | 2.3 |
| JR Konieczny | 8.3 | 6.0 | 0.5 |
| Julian Roper II | 8.8 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
| Tae Davis | 7.5 | 4.8 | 0.8 |
| Matt Zona | 2.5 | 4.0 | 2.3 |
Maryland Eastern Shore
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Dionte Johnson | 7.8 | 2.8 | 0.8 |
| Chace Davis | 13.5 | 2.3 | 1.3 |
| Elijah Wilson | 6.5 | 4.0 | 1.3 |
| Devon Ellis | 10.8 | 5.0 | 0.5 |
| Troy Hupstead | 12.8 | 10.0 | 1.5 |
TEAM STATS
| STAT | MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE | NOTRE DAME |
| Scoring Offense | 73.0 | 64.0 |
| Scoring Defense | 77.5 | 70.3 |
| FG% | 41.2% | 40.9% |
| Rebounds | 35.5 | 36.3 |
| Assists | 12.8 | 10.3 |
| Steals | 7.0 | 4.8 |
| Blocks | 2.3 | 2.3 |
THOUGHTS
- Notre Dame is expected to get sophomore forward Kebba Njie back on Wednesday after he missed the first four games due to a wrist/hand injury. The 6-foot-10, 254-pounder played in 37 games for Penn State last year as a true freshman and averaged 3.4 ppg and 3.5 rpg.
Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry believes Njie’s return will provide a big boost on the defensive end for his team, which is a positive as he believes Notre DAme has played good defense in its first four games.
“Barring any setbacks, we hope to have him here tomorrow and beyond,” Shrewsberry said on Tuesday. “We do need him. We need his voice. We need his rebounding and his ability to get us easy baskets in the paint. We can throw the ball inside and he just settles us a little bit. That’s one of the bigger things as we’ve started this season, we’ve gone four games without him.
“His presence defensively - I’ve been pleased with how we’ve guarded and defended and he’s probably our most important defensive piece that we’ve played without. We’re anxious to get him back.”
- Notre Dame junior JR Konieczny patiently waited his time and now is making a lasting impression. The 6-foot-7 guard made his first start against Oklahoma State last week after a big game against Auburn where he recorded 18 points and 11 boards. Konieczny proved starting him was the right move as he finished the Oklahoma State game with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Shrewsberry has seen the South Bend native’s confidence grow in recent weeks and it has taken off following a big week in Brooklyn against Power Five competition.
“His physicality went to a different level the last two games,” stated Shrewsberry. “I think he saw the results of that. The energy he played with, the physicality he played with translated to really good things. I think it’s a great step for him, Now, let’s build off it and let’s keep doing it. We’ve seen it in practice. He’s continuing to do it and playing the right way. He’s getting a little bit more confident each time he comes out there. Great building block for him. I’m excited about it and now let’s go do it again and keep helping us win in any way possible.”
- Notre Dame will have the opportunity to get back over the .500 mark on Wednesday, which will be important as the schedule gets tougher over the next two weeks with South Carolina, Miami and Marquette coming fast.
Stacking wins is important, but Notre Dame simply gaining game experience in game situations is critical for the development of this team.
”Any time you have wins like that or any time you have a piece of success, it just builds more and more belief,” said Shrewsberry. “I talked about it before, but we can be down, we can’t play our best, we can play good and then have a team come back, we can be down in overtime and still come back.
“There’s things there that they can point to and say we can do this if we do dig our heels in a little bit. For a new coach, new staff, new group that’s together, those small victories really help you. Things you can go back to, right? Maybe it’s South Carolina, Miami, or whoever it is, you get in those situations away from home and you feel we can do this. The doubt starts to leave and the belief starts to come in a little bit more.”
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