It was a familiar story inside Purcell Pavilion on Tuesday night.
Miami (15-2, 4-0) was the more controlled, efficient, and seasoned team, which led to a fairly comfortable 81–69 win over Notre Dame (10-7, 1-3).
Notre Dame’s defense failed to show up at times as Tre Donaldson scored 23 points and dished out five assists, while Malik Reneau added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Hurricanes.
The Irish shot 47 percent from the floor and even out-rebounded Miami 35-28, but Notre Dame couldn’t find stops or scoring to over 18 turnovers.
Jalen Haralson led the Irish with 18 points, marking the 15th straight game he has scored in double figures.
Irish sophomore Sir Mohammed went on a personal 9–0 run to trim Miami’s lead to 25–20 in the first half and finished with 15 points off the bench. He was the only other Irish player to reach double figures.
Miami flexed its muscle with a 17–5 run to open the second half and took control of a game that was tied 39–39 at halftime.
Shelton Henderson also chipped in 17 points for the Hurricanes, while former Notre Dame recruit Dante Allen scored 11.
TURNOVERS ON TURNOVERS
Notre Dame is in a rough spot.
Micah Shrewsberry’s program lacks a true point guard with Markus Burton sidelined, forcing the Irish to rely heavily on Logan Imes and Haralson to handle the ball. It’s become a situation that has produced inconsistent results.
Tuesday night marked a low point. Imes and Haralson combined for 11 of Notre Dame’s 18 turnovers.
Turnovers were always going to be part of the learning curve with Haralson shouldering so much responsibility as a freshman, but it was the fourth time he has committed at least five turnovers since Burton’s injury.
“Most of our mistakes, most of our turnovers are in the paint or driving and making that decision in the paint,” Shrewsberry stated. “That's the one thing we miss with Markus is getting by people and causing help. Right now, a lot of people are staying home on those drives. Those dudes gotta be able to play off two feet and make something happen.
“I told him I'd rather get a five second call or just throw it off the glass and maybe we get a chance to rebound it. We gotta keep working, right? It sucks. Turned the ball over 18 times, but at least we're making aggressive mistakes now. Those are things that we can now learn from.”
Miami head coach Jai Lucas admitted postgame that he adjusted his defensive philosophy, sensing Notre Dame wasn’t equipped to handle extended pressure.
The adjustment paid off. Miami won the turnover battle 18–7, points off turnovers 19–6 and fast-break points 13–2.
Lucas also emphasized keeping Notre Dame out of the paint. Miami had seen the Irish find success working inside-out in recent games and largely took that away. Notre Dame was outscored 40–28 in the paint and shot just 7-of-23 from beyond the arc.
Shrewsberry noticed the emphasis on keeping his team out of the paint, but the Irish couldn’t come up with answer for Miami’s physcality and length.
“We couldn't attack the paint,” said Shrewsberry. “Their physicality bothered us. I thought we got to the rim and got into the paint verse their physicality. Today, we just didn't handle the ball at the end of those drives the right way.”
BENCH
The bright spot on Tuesday was Notre Dame’s bench. Notre Dame outscored Miami 35–15 in bench points as Cole Certa finished with eight points to go along with Mohammed’s big night.
Freshman Ryder Frost also saw extended action and made the most of it, scoring seven points and knocking down two three-pointers.
Shrewsberry continues to show a willingness to play whoever is producing, while emphasizing consistency and preparation throughout the week.
“I can't have success and then think that I've arrived and then go right back to where you were,” explained Shrewsberry. “They got to lean on that. I thought Certa really got back in the gym this week. I thought he had a great practice yesterday and the result followed up what he did. That's something those guys got to keep doing.
“Ryder hasn't played a lot for us. He's just got to be able to pick up what we're doing. Got to be able to know offensively and defensively.”
BURTON UPDATE
It would be surprising to see Burton return this season following his ankle injury. The junior guard would be eligible for a redshirt year, which remains a realistic option with Notre Dame not trending toward a tournament berth.
“He's doing more in the weight room,” Shrewsberry said. “He's moving more with his rehab, but he's not doing anything on the court. I don't know what the timeline is. He's making progress, but he’s not playing Saturday, right?
“This group's gotta find a way without him and our medical staff will keep working with him to try and keep getting better and keep making progress to get him back where he needs to be.”
UP NEXT
Notre Dame travels to Virginia Tech on Saturday for a 12:00 PM ET tip on the ACC Network.
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