Notre Dame (3-0) remained unbeaten on Tuesday night with a 78-58 victory over visiting Eastern Illinois (1-2).
It was a classic tale of two halves for Notre Dame. The Irish looked out of sync in the opening 20 minutes, taking just a 31-28 lead into halftime.
Braeden Shrewsberry got the Irish going out of halftime with 15 of his 18 points in the second half, which included him going 5-of-6 from deep.
Notre Dame star Markus Burton was his normal self with 21 points and three assists, while freshman Jalen Haralson added a career-high 17 points and five boards.
The Irish shot 48 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point range. Notre Dame also dominated the glass 40-24 and held a commanding 38-18 advantage in the paint.
Perhaps the key to the game was controlling the Panthers on the foul line. Eastern Illinois was 47-of-60 from the free throw line in its first two games, but shot just 10-of-12 at Purcell Pavilion. The Irish fnished 11-of-15 from the foul line.
Notre Dame was able to control the Panthers patient offense and force perimeter shots for most of the night. Eastern Illinois entered the game just 7-of-27 from three, including taking just nine threes in a loss to Valpo.
Graduate transfer Carson Towt led the Irish with 11 rebounds while addding five points.
THE UGLY
You can call it a slow start. You can call it sloppy basketball. You can even say it’s a lack of focus. Whatever Notre Dame did in the first half was all of the above.
No disrespect to Eastern Illinois, but they look like a JV high school team. It’s not often Notre Dame is the more physically imposing team, but that was the case on Tuesday.
Yes, overmatched teams hang around a little longer than they should at times, but the Panthers had a lead until 2:11 left in the half when Burton completed a layup.
Eastern Illinois deserves credit for its patience and ball movement, even if it shot just 13-of-34 before the break. Notre Dame, despite its athletic advantage, failed to push tempo or even get in transition. The Panthers even led in fast-break points (3-0) through 20 minutes.
Burton did his thing in the first half and ended with 12 points. No one else stepped up or even tried to show aggression on the offensive end. Jalan Haralson and Sir Mohammeed had four points each, but neither played with aggression.
On the defensive end, Cole Certa and Garrett Sundra were beaten on drives from the corner for layups. Understandable if Notre Dame was playing Duke, but Eastern Illinois is a far cry from the best team in its own conference.
THE GOOD
Notre Dame had a short halftime as the team returned to the floor to shoot with over seven minutes left on the clock. The Irish received the message from the staff as they used a 10-0 run to take a commanding 48-36 after raining threes. Shrewsberry started 3-for-3 from three and Burton added another in the first five minutes of the half.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign is that Haralson started to be more assertive halfway through the second half. The 6-foot-7 freshman started to drive with intentions to get to the rim and that’s his game.
In the second half, Haralson scored 13 points on 4-for-4 from the field and hit 5-of-6 from the foul line while also pulling down all five of his boards.
Haralson’s ability to drive could pay up big later this season as it takes some of the load off Burton as a driver, but also as a distributor. Haralson was able to see over the defense and hit open shooters, which is something Notre Dame needs.
Notre Dame’s maturity stood out in the final 20 minutes. In the past, the Irish would have struggled their way to an ugly win or even worse. Tuesday's performance was far from ideal, but the ability to reload at halftime and set a strong tone early in the second half is a positive sign of growth in the program.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The game ended how you thought it would, so Shrewsberry can use this as a learning experience. That said, it’s happened too frequently during the last two seasons, so if the Irish actually learn from it will be interesting to see.
Notre Dame’s defense has definitely improved since a year ago. Players don’t appear to be confused, and it’s rare that the opposition has straight beaten a guy one-on-one. A key aspect of this is better team defense, as Burton and Shrewsberry are still somewhat liabilities, given their size, especially if a team can get them matched up in the post.
Offensively, Notre Dame has demonstrated its ability to score in bunches. It’s probably not as consistent as they’d like, but the presence of more shooters is noticeable.
The Irish bench scored 52 points in game one and 40 last Friday.
Off nights from Cole Certa and Ryder Frost will happen, so it’s likely a positive that Notre Dame was challenged on that end of the floor. Certa finished with zero points on 0-of-3 from the floor, while Frost and Brady Koehler were also held scoreless.
They now know they can’t just show up and beat anyone at this level.
Now, is a performance like this going to be good enough to win games against major conference teams? That’s coming this weekend when Ohio State hosts Notre Dame.
The Irish tip off against Ohio State on Sunday at 12:30 PM ET on FS1.
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