Notre Dame Punishes Dartmouth 77-65
Notre Dame (6-5) had to switch it up on Wednesday night to top Dartmouth (4-5) 77-65 at Purcell Pavilion.
The Fighting Irish held Syracuse to 0-for-9 shooting from three-point range on Saturday, but Dartmouth came in as one of the nation’s top teams in terms of volume from behind the arc.
Entering the game, the Big Green averaged 30 three-point attempts and did much of the same against the Irish. Notre Dame’s defense stepped up and held Dartmouth to just 6-of-33 from deep while also holding the visitors to 40 percent from the field.
Notre Dame’s ability to guard Dartmouth had head coach Micah Shrewsberry excited as it was a step in the right direction for the program.
“Syracuse shot nine threes the whole game. They’re all about the paint, getting to the rim and driving the ball. Dartmouth is one of the high-volume three-point shooting teams in the country. They’re one of the highest in the country in points scored from three. What can beat you in this game? What keeps them in it longer? It’s a bunch of threes.
“We switched our game plan and it helped. Jackson Munro probably had a career game, but I was OK with him getting some of those twos. We didn’t want to over-help and give up threes.”
Munro did have a night as he led the Big Green with 17 points and four rebounds, while Jayden Williams added 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
Yet, Shrewsberry was right as Munro’s big night wasn’t enough to overcome 22 points from Braeden Shrewsberry, 20 points and 10 rebounds from Tae Davis and Matt Allocco’s 16 points and five assists.
Shrewsberry might have been the game’s leading scorer, but the difference was Davis. The Indianapolis native was relentless in attacking the rim as all 13 shot attempts came from inside the arc.
And most importantly, Davis started the game aggressive as, at one point, he was 9-of-10 from the floor.
“He’s a hard matchup for a lot of people,” explained Shrewsberry. “One, because of how we start. Do you put your four on him? Do you put your five on him? There aren’t many people who can just stay with him that way. Then you have to figure out the ball screen coverage with him. He’s setting a lot of ball screens, so if you switch him, he’s got a guard on him in the post or driving that guy or he’s got a big guy and he’s rolling into the seams.
“We use him in a lot of different ways.”
With Davis setting the tone, Notre Dame followed. The Irish held an impressive 46-32 advantage in points in the paint as Dartmouth was focused on jacking up threes.
“It was the flipside on the other end,” Shrewsberry stated. “You can get in the paint. We wanted to really be inside-out in what we did. We wanted to get paint touches, get to the rim and if we were getting threes, they were kick-out threes from those paint touches.
“I thought we were rushing a little bit to get to the paint. Early in the game, the emphasis was to get in the paint and we were trying to get in there on the first pass instead of moving. I thought we settled down really kept attacking it.”
Notre Dame has found a big three with star guard Markus Burton out as Allocco, Davis and Shrewsberry have stepped up. It’s not necessarily been a focus to get all three involved as this team is more than willing to feed the hot hand.
“Tae had the matchup tonight,” said Allocco. “It could be anybody on any given night. Whoever has it going, we’re going to get them the ball. I think everyone on this team is going to do whatever it takes to win. Tonight it was Tae getting a double-double. Last game, Braeden had 25 and had 22 again. He’s got it going.”
MARKUS BURTON UPDATE
Notre Dame will now have 11 days off as the final game before Christmas break will be on December 22nd against Le Moyne. Shrewsberry is more than fine with the break as it allows the team, including Burton, to rest and get healthy.
As far as Burton’s return, Shrewsberry wasn’t giving away too much, but it didn’t sound like Notre Dame would be getting its leading scorer back soon.
“Time is our best ally,” said Shrewsberry. “Our schedule the last two weeks wasn’t great to having injured people. Our schedule right now is great for having injured people. We’re just sitting idle for a long time. With each day, I hope he gets closer, but I think he’s in the care of the best. We believe in the doctors that we have.
“When he’s ready, when they say he’s ready, that’s when I’m going to be comfortable getting him back out there. We’re going to survive. We’re going to keep doing what we need to do to win, but his future is the most important for me. We’re not going to rush him back, but time is helpful.”
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