Scouting Notre Dame
Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry inherited a messy roster after taking over from veteran coach Mike Brey last spring.
Shrewsberry has made the best of it in going 6-7 overall, including 1-1 in the ACC. Notre Dame shocked Virginia 76-54 last Saturday, thanks to shooting 11 of 23 from three-point land and holding UVA to 2 of 11 from beyond the arc.
Notre Dame has losses to Western Carolina and The Citadel, with its best non-conference win coming against Oklahoma State 66-64 in overtime Nov. 17.
NC State plays at Notre Dame at 9 p.m. Wednesday on the ACC Network. NC State (9-3, 1-0 ACC) last played against Detroit Mercy on Dec. 23.
Overview
Notre Dame has been forced into a youth movement, mixing in freshmen Markus Burton, a point guard, and power forward Carey Booth, with sophomores Tae Davis, Kebba Njie and J.R. Konieczny.
Davis arrived from Seton Hall and Njie followed Shrewsberry from Penn State. Add in Northwestern junior guard transfer Julian Roper and freshman wing Braeden Shrewsberry, and it’s the nucleus moving forward.
Rankings
Notre Dame is No. 186 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 68.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Fighting Irish ranked No. 190 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 59.
KenPom.com has Notre Dame at No. 173, and NCSU checks in at No. 73 this season.
Shooting
Notre Dame is averaging 63.6 points per game, and is shooting 40.2 percent from the field, 28.2 percent on three-pointers and 73.3 percent at the free-throw line.
Roper leads the squad at 36.6 percent from three-point land, and Booth is second at 34.0 percent.
Rebounding
Notre Dame is averaging 36.2 rebounds per game and has a plus-2.5 rebounding margin. The Fighting Irish have 136 offensive rebounds with Konieczny leading the way with 25.
Konieczny is averaging 5.9 rebounds per game and Davis is at 5.7.
Defense
The Fighting Irish are allowing 65.6 points per game, with opponents shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 33.1 percent on three-pointers.
Njie has a team-best nine blocks and Burton leads the squad with 20 steals.
Depth
Notre Dame often plays Shrewsberry, Roper and freshman Logan Imes on the perimeter off the bench, with senior post player Matt Zona.
Roper had been starting and is averaging 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 29.8 minutes per game. Shrewsberry has been solid in averaging 7.2 points in 26.5 minutes a contest, and he has four starts.
Star Watch
Freshman point guard Markus Burton erupted for 29 points in his first college game against Niagara on Nov. 6, and he hasn’t let up since.
Burton leads Notre Dame with 15.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, and he’s shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 25.0 percent on three-pointers.
Burton has scored in double figures in all but two games, and has reached 20-plus points in four contests. The 5-11, 166-pounder from Mishawaka, Ind., is fresh off of getting 15 points and eight assists in the big win over Virginia on Saturday.
Burton also had 20 points against both Oklahoma State and Marquette, plus 17 points in a 72-68 overtime loss against Georgetown.
Rivals.com ranked Burton the No. 140 overall player in the class of 2023, and the No. 32 point guard in the country. He picked Notre Dame over offers from Appalachian State, Ball State, Drake, Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, Miami (Ohio), Missouri State, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Illinois-Chicago and Western Michigan.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 0 DJ Horne (6-1, 175, R-Sr., 15.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.4 spg)
SG — 1 Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Jr., 13.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.7 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Sr., 12.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.0 apg)
PF — 11 Dennis Parker (6-6, 205, Fr., 6.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.7 apg, 1.0 spg
C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Sr., 13.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.8 apg)
Notre Dame
PG — 3 Markus Burton (5-11, 166, Fr., 15.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.5 spg)
SG — 20 J.R. Konieczny (6-7, 204, Jr., 10.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.8 apg)
SF — 13 Tae Davis (6-9, 208, Soph., 8.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.8 apg)
PF — 0 Carey Booth (6-10, 203, Fr., 7.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.6 apg)
C — 14 Kebba Njie (6-10, 254, Soph., 4.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.0 bpg)
Numbers Of Note
35 Returning points scored for Notre Dame, with forward Matt Zona getting 34 last year and walk-on guard Alex Wade having one point.
37 NCAA Tournament appearances, with the last one coming in 2022.
43 Career wins for Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry, who had 37 of the wins at Penn State in two years.
Game Within The Game: ND's J.R. Konieczny vs. NC State's Jayden Taylor
Junior wing J.R. Konieczny wasn’t much of a factor his freshman year, and then redshirted last year.
Konieczny is averaging 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and is shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 32.0 percent on three-pointers this season.
The 6-7, 205-pounder has blossomed into Notre Dame’s second-leading scorer this season, and is playing some of his best ball of late. He drained 4 of 5 on three-pointers en route to 17 points and eight rebounds in the 76-54 win over Virginia last Saturday. He also had 18 points and 10 boards in the 65-45 loss against The Citadel on Dec. 19.
Konieczny has three double-doubles for points and rebounds this season, and he had 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 83-59 loss vs. Auburn on Nov. 16.
The South Bend, Ind., native was ranked No. 130 overall in the class of 2021 by Rivals.com. He picked Notre Dame over offers from Butler, Creighton and Iowa, among others.
The 6-4, 195-pound Jayden Taylor is averaging 13.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He is shooting 42.0 percent from the field and 37.0 percent on three-pointers. Taylor had a season-high 22 points against Abilene Christian on Nov. 10. The Butler transfer from Indianapolis, Ind., will be having his homecoming game.
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