Notre Dame had a chance to move to 2-0 in the ACC, but the Fighting Irish couldn’t finish on Friday night - or Saturday morning in the Midwest.
Cal trailed 69–65 with 16 seconds remaining and somehow escaped with a 72–71 victory.
Braeden Shrewsberry knocked down two free throws with nine seconds left to give Notre Dame a 71–68 lead. Just four seconds later, Logan Imes fouled Dai Dai Ames on a three-point attempt. Ames buried the shot and converted the free throw, putting Cal ahead by one.
Shrewsberry, who led the Irish with 21 points, had a look at the buzzer but couldn’t connect.
What followed was chaos. Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry immediately sprinted off the floor in pursuit of an official and had to be restrained by players and staff as emotions boiled over from the Imes foul call.
Notre Dame shot a respectable 40 percent from the field and 11-of-31 from deep, but the Irish failed to make a field goal over the last 3:10.
Despite the ACC crew’s controversial call, this game ultimately slipped away at the free-throw line. Notre Dame finished just 16-of-26 at the stripe, with freshman Jalen Haralson going 5-of-10.
Still, Haralson delivered an efficient performance. He went 5-of-9 from the floor, scored 17 points, and grabbed four rebounds. Just as importantly, he limited his mistakes, turning the ball over only twice after committing 14 turnovers over the previous two games.
Notre Dame’s bench provided a lift, outscoring Cal 25–13. Cole Certa chipped in 16 points, while freshman Brady Koehler added five points.
The Irish also controlled the glass, out-rebounding the Golden Bears 44–34, led by Carson Towt’s game-high 15 rebounds.
Both teams took care of the ball on Friday night. Cal finished with just three turnovers and Notre Dame had seven, but the Golden Bears made the most of Notre Dame’s miscues, holding an 11–0 edge in points off turnovers.
END OF GAME
Foul or not, Notre Dame continues to make poor decisions at the end of games. A year ago, Matt Allocco fouled Elliot Cadeau in a nearly identical situation, allowing North Carolina to complete a four-point play with four seconds left to win 74–73.
So what is it? Coaching? Players not understanding the situation? Simply bad decisions?
Notre Dame led by three and still had two fouls to give before the fatal play. It appeared Logan Imes initially tried to foul earlier in the possession, but Dai Dai Ames slipped around him. There wasn’t much contact before the shot — and not much on the shot itself.
Ultimately, the responsibility falls on Micah Shrewsberry and his players. If you’re going to foul, it has to be decisive and well before the shooting motion to take the officials out of it. That message has to be clear and executed.
Maybe the staff communicated it and Imes made a split-second mistake in the heat of the moment. Either way, Notre Dame put the outcome out of the game in the hand of an official.
THE POSITIVE
Notre Dame still comes home with a split on the West Coast road trip. The Stanford game wasn’t pretty, but with No. 13 Louisville falling to the Cardinal on Friday night, the 47–40 win may age better than expected.
The Irish have also shown they can compete without star Markus Burton, with the Purdue Fort Wayne game standing as the clear outlier.
Defensively, Notre Dame has found something and it starts with effort. The Irish might not always be in the right spots or make every rotation, but they play hard on the defensive end of the floor. It has a similar feel to the first year of the Shrewsberry era, where defense was emphasized for most of the year.
Notre Dame is a longer team and it shows up at times. Towt’s leadership and physical presence have rubbed off on the team, and they play with grit.
Offensively, it remains a work in progress. Imes was effective in non-scoring areas Friday night, finishing with eight rebounds, six assists, and just one turnover in 25 minutes. He went 0-for-4 from the field, but scoring isn’t his primary role.
Certa and Shrewsberry had nice games from a shooting perspective, but they still need to be more consistent night to night if Notre Dame is going to stay in the top half of the ACC.
Haralson continues to shoulder a heavy load, so ups and downs are inevitable. Friday was largely positive, as he committed just two turnovers. Shrewsberry will likely live with Haralson going 5-of-10 at the line if he only has two turnovers. Haralson’s shot will come, even if it doesn’t fully arrive this season.
That said, Haralson did make his first three of the year, finishing 2-of-3 from deep.
And speaking of firsts, freshman Mark Zackery IV scored his first collegiate points on a reverse layup in the first half. Zackery seeing first-half minutes is telling of Notre Dame’s current point guard depth, especially considering he didn’t join the program until mid-December.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will host Clemson on January 10 at 6:00 PM ET on ESPN2. It will be the final time the Irish are scheduled to wear their “The Bend” jerseys this season.
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