Notre Dame Takes Care of Business in 91-62 Route of Le Moyne
Notre Dame (7-5) did exactly what Micah Shrewsberry expected on Sunday evening as the Fighting Irish dominated Le Moyne (5-9) 91-62.
The game didn’t have to be close and Notre Dame made sure of that. The Irish controlled every facet of the game as Notre Dame shot 48 percent from the floor, 38 percent from three and out-rebounded the Dolphins 45-26, which included winning the offensive glass 14-6 and it led to a big 21-5 advantage in second chance points.
91 points was a season-high for Notre Dame and Shrewsberry felt part of it was due to the Irish having fresh legs as the the last game was 11 days ago.
“We were obviously rested,” stated Shrewsberry. “We haven’t played in forever. Our guys looked fresher. We were moving quicker. We had effort. Those guys on the offensive rebounds set the tone early. I think all of that leads to success offensively.”
Notre Dame did have just three players in double figures, but they got scoring from just about everywhere as 10 players scored. Tae Davis led the way with 24 points and six boards, while Braeden Shrewsberry added 14 and Logan Imes scored a career-high 11 points off the bench.
“He’s taking advantage of what the defense was doing,” Shrewsberry said of Imes. “They were picking up full court, but they were also trying to deny our trailer. They can’t deny everybody, so it becomes one-on-one sometimes. He’s aggressive when he attacks. When he plays on the offensive, he can be a really good player for us - more assertiveness.”
Davis also appears to be turning a corner as he’s scored in double figures in seven straight games, including three games where he scored 20 or more.
Yes, Markus Burton is still out so there are more shots to go around, but Davis has continued to hunt for his shot and attack the rim, which is something he hadn’t done with consistency. In addition to going 6-for-10 from the field, Davis went 12-of-14 from the free throw line on Sunday night.
“I think there’s a level of comfort in what he’s doing and how he’s playing,” said Shrewsberry. “How we play is already little bit difficult because it’s so much read and react type of stuff. Last year because of our team makeup, it was a disservice to him that he played a bunch of different positions and they were completely different. He’d start at the 4, then he’d move to the 1 and do something completely different and his thought process is different.
“Now, he’s been able to be consistently in one spot. It’s been great. We’ve needed it. We’ve needed people to step up with Markus out. Tae’s been a great leader for us on both ends of the court.”
The Irish were also itching to play someone with the extended break and Shrewsberry even challenged his group to be the more hungry team before the game. And they were.
“We had good practices,” explained Shrewsberry. “We’ve worked on skill. We’ve kept them short, but we’ve competed. I thought those guys made each other better. We were going after each other. They were tired of seeing each other and we played like that.”
Dwayne Koroma led the Dolphins with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, while former Notre Dame guard Robby Carmody added 13 points and three boards in his return to Purcell Pavilion.
MARKUS BURTON UPDATE
The Notre Dame star was active on the bench celebrating with his teammates all night, but it appears there still isn’t a target date Shrewsberry is willing to put out there for Burton’s return.
“I don’t know exactly,” said Shrewsberry. “Every week that goes by, he’s getting better, but there’s still no exact timeline. We’re going to air on the side of caution with him. He’s doing good stuff. You can see progress.
“I know one thing, he’s tired from not playing. If you would ask him, he would have probably played tonight. It’s not up to him. He is making progress.”
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will travel to Georgia Tech on December 31st. Tip is set for 2:30 PM ET on ACC Network
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