Notre Dame Outlasts Cal in Four-Overtimes on Senior Day
Notre Dame’s (14-17, 8-12) regular season finale turned into a battle of wills with Cal (13-18, 6-14) on Saturday evening.
The Fighting Irish won 112-110 in four overtimes to send eight seniors out the right way in their final game at Purcell Pavilion.
“There’s not much to say,” stated Shrewsberry. “You started a game at 4:00 and ended at 7:30. A Senior Day marathon. I’m proud of our guys for how they fought and competed. Markus (Burton) was unbelievable. He was unreal.
“I thought the four seniors, the ones who played, they were not going to let us lose. They were going to will us to victory in some way, somehow. Proud of our group.”
There were several moments where Notre Dame looked like they were going to pull away, which included holding the lead at 88-82 with 1:38 left in the second overtime. Then there were times Cal looked like they were going to steal a road win late in the third overtime.
It was a rollercoaster for the players and both head coaches. Shrewsberry just rolled with the punches and the team used momentum from the home crowd to get over the hump.
“I was riding the wave like those guys were,” Shrewsberry said. “We’ve been in a lot of situations. We’ve been in a lot of close situations. We’ve been up and lost. We’ve been down and come back. We’ve played in close games.
“Today, there were opportunities where you needed stops because they got the ball last. We needed a bucket because we had the ball last. Nobody could really win it there at the end. They just fought through it.”
Burton was the star of the show. The Mishwakwa native scored a career-high 43 points and pulled down eight rebounds in 53 minutes of action. Burton would have played more, but he fouled out with 2:40 remaining in the fourth overtime.
After scoring 18 points in the first half, Burton was limited in the second half as Cal put Andrej Stojakobvic on the Notre Dame point guard. Burton went 0-for-6 in the second half or else he likely would have topped 50 points on the night.
“They do a good job of trying to deny right after makes,” explained Shrewsberry. “They do a good job of having someone there if he passed it. We had to find something we could get him open a little bit. A couple things we got, we stuck with because he was making some plays, whether it was off the ball or on the ball.
“It’s stuff we can work on and keep growing from. He made some huge shots.”
As one would imagine, there were some big-time stats on the night. Both teams shot the ball well as Cal hit 46 percent from the field, while the Irish finished the night at 50 percent. Notre Dame won the rebounding battle 50-42 and also bench points 25-20.
The game was tied 17 times and there were also 14 lead changes.
Perhaps the most impressive feat of the night was Notre Dame won the game without Burton or Tae Davis on the floor in the final minutes.
In fact, Davis fouled out of the game with 33 seconds left in regulation after battling foul trouble for most of the game. Davis finished with 12 points and two boards, but was on the floor for just 15 minutes on the night.
“You look and he played 15 minutes,” Shrewsberry explained. “He had to fight through some foul trouble early. He picks up a third, then a fourth and you’re trying to manage it the best you can. He fouled out so early. He had 12 points, but he wasn’t a factor because we played another game without him.
“JR (Konieczny) tried to attack in that way. This was a playmakers game. How they defend made it a playmakers game. We needed some guys who could put the ball on the deck and get in the paint and make a play. I thought Mush (Matt Allocco) and JR were kind of getting to that for us.”
Allocco, who was playing in his final game at Purcell Pavilion, gave Notre Dame the lead for the final time with a clutch three to put the Irish up 109-108 with 15 seconds left in the game. Allocco scored 10 of his 24 points in the final overtime as he took over the game with Burton on the bench.
“Mush is not scared of the moment,” stated Shrewsberry. “He is not scared of the moment. He wants it. Some people don’t want it. He wants the basketball and an opportunity to win the game. When Markus fouled out, he said we’re not going to lose.”
The fourth overtime is why Allocco was a priority for Notre Dame out of the transfer portal last spring. Clutch shot making and willing a team to win in March.
“He’s just so tough,” said Shrewsberry. “He’s missed seven out of eight or nine games and for him to play 54 minutes with a heavily taped wrist. Tape is like holding his hand to his arm. He’s willing to take tough shots in that moment. All I could think about was Sam Cassell.”
Konieczny finished the night with 13 points and eight boards and Nikita Konstantynovskyi scored six points and pulled down 17 rebounds.
INJURY UPDATE ON KEBBA NJIE
Notre Dame big man Kebba Njie left the game early in the second half after a hard fall on the ground. Njie headed straight to the locker room and returned to the bench a few minutes later, but the Ohio native did not return to the game.
“I’m not sure,” said Shrewberry. “I just know he went down and he came back to the bench. They just said he was out for the rest of the game. I haven’t had a chance to talk to our docs to see what or why or what the situation is.
“They tell you he’s out and it’s like, ‘OK, how do we sub? How do we rotate?’”
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