LINKS: Undefeated Notre Dame Visits Undefeated Georgetown for Game 3

A matchup of two second-year coaches who are 2-0

There’s a lot of similarity with the current states of the basketball programs for your Georgetown Hoyas and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish—tremendous academic schools, old conference foes, historical competitiveness and success, and … second-year coaches looking to turn each program around. Ed Cooley and Micah Shrewsberry were discussed together quite a bit in March 2023 and many fans will continue to compare their success as time moves onward. Cooley added a top recruiting class in 2024 and ND looks to be reeling in some talent for 2025. But the game is not next year, it’s this Saturday and the two similarly ranked 2-0 teams—Georgetown #96 on Kenpom, ND #78—will matchup for an early measuring stick on NBC.

Last season, Georgetown defeated Notre Dame in overtime, 72-68, at Purcell Pavilion. This year, the Hoyas host the Irish at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. on November 16th at 1 p.m. ET. The game will air on NBC and serve as a lead-in to the Notre Dame football game.
It appears to be a BIG EAST production team on NBC, with John Fanta calling the play-by-play and Donny Marshall providing analysis. Rich Chvotkin, in his 51st season as the Voice of the Hoyas, can be heard locally on 106.7 The Fan or Team 980.

Notre Dame is 2-0, with wins over Buffalo and Stonehill. While they did play three games in a 10-day trip to Spain in August, it appears there was a slow start against Buffalo on the 11th with the Irish trailing 40-38 at halftime.

Sophomore guards Markus Burton (5’11”) and Braedon Shrewsberry (6’3” coach’s son) lead the Irish with each averaging 18.5 ppg. The point guard Burton has 13 assists through the two games. Senior guard Matt Allocco (6’4”; 5.5 ppg) has also been starting.

Junior forwards Tae Davis (6’9”; 18 ppg, 5.5 reb) and Kebba Njie (6’10”; 10.5 ppg, 7.5 reb) have each been playing about 20 minutes per game, while Nikita Konstantynovskyi—a senior transfer via Monmouth and Tulsa—eats up about 10 minutes. None of these three have tremendous histories as rebounders.

Georgetown has not played a game since November 9th but fans have enjoyed hearing freshman center Thomas Sorber’s name often following his first nod as BIG EAST Freshman of the Week.

The Hoyas will similarly matchup with three guards in Malik Mack (6’2”; 11.5 ppg, 4.5 apg, 4 rpg), Jayden Epps (6’2”, 14.5 ppg, 3.5 apg), and Micah Peavy (6’7”; 14 ppg, 3.5 apg, 4.5 rpg). Whether Drew Fielder (6’10”) or Jordan Burks (6’9”) gets the start at forward is TBD, but each will play good minutes if healthy.

Here are some links:

Second Half Surge Powers Irish 86-77 Victory Over Buffalo | Fighting Irish

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team improved to 2-0 on the 2024-25 season after dispatching Buffalo, 86-77, inside Purcell Pavilion on Monday night. The Fighting Irish were powered by a second-half surge after they trailed by two at the half. The Irish made eight of its first nine shots from the field and recorded a 24-2 scoring spree to build a lead as large as 20 with 13:20 remaining.

The trio of Tae Davis, Braeden Shrewsberry and Markus Burton combined for 43 of the team’s 48 points. Davis had a career night with 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He also recorded a career high 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Burton flirted with what would have been just the program’s second ever triple-double. The sophomore guard supplied 19 points, a career high nine rebounds and a career-high tying eight assists.

Shrewsberry scored all 13 of his second-half points in the opening 7.5 minutes. Shrewsberry finished with 19 points.

Also sixth man of the game had to go to J.R. Konieczny, who made the most of his minutes by tallying eight points and six boards on 3-for-3 shooting.

Notre Dame Basketball: Irish sign its best recruiting class ever on Signing Day | One Foot Down (SB Nation)

It was a historic day for the Notre Dame Men’s Basketball team on Wednesday. It was National Signing Day around the country, and Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry put together a class never seen before in South Bend during the modern era.

Notre Dame signed four top 120 recruits in 5-Star G Jalen Haralson, 4-Star F Ryder Frost, 4-Star C Tommy Ahneman, and 4-Star F Brady Koehler.

Burton Named to Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Watch List | Fighting Irish

All Burton did last year was break the all-time scoring record at Notre Dame with 577 points. In ACC-play only, Burton ranked sixth in scoring (17.5 ppg), first in steals (2.2) and third in assists (4.8).

Irish fans are hoping Burton can pick up right where he left off. The Mishawaka native averaged the second most points in the ACC from Feb. 24 on, averaging 22.1 ppg in that span. His 17.5 ppg in ACC play is the third highest returning scoring average amongst all league players.

In addition, ESPN.com announced today its top-100 players ahead of the 2024-25 season. Burton checked in at No. 40 as they anticipate the sophomore emerging as one of the ACC’s top guards.

Notre Dame men’s basketball gets tested, but passes it in a way it wouldn’t have last season | South Bend Tribune

With so much defensive emphasis placed by Buffalo on stopping the Irish guards, Davis was kind of free to roam. Float out toward the 3-point line (where he should never stray for obvious percentage reasons), attack the rim, draw fouls, get to the foul line and make a lot of free throws.

Even with Burton and fellow guard Braeden Shrewsberry getting theirs (each scored 19 points), Davis finished with 27 points, which included 12-of-13 from the foul line, and six rebounds.

“My mindset was just keying in on the game, playing basketball the right way and just kind of hooping,” he said.

Career night for Tae Davis helps Notre Dame MBB avoid upset against Buffalo | Rivals

Almost one-third of those came from 6-9, 215-pound junior Tae Davis, the former Seton Hall player who averaged nine points a game for ND last season.

A year later he’s a stronger, more confident player, taking what the defense is offering. Against Buffalo, which applied extra pressure to ND guards Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry, Davis mostly powered his way to the basket for a career-high 27 points that included 7-for-13 shooting from the field, 1-3 on threes, and 12-of-13 from the free throw line.

“His physicality was a big thing for them,” said second-year Buffalo coach George Halcovage III, who is trying to rebuild a team following last season’s 4-27 mark. “He made the right plays and he made his foul shots.”

Davis, who had nine points in the season-opening win over Stonehill, also had six rebounds, a couple of steals and zero turnovers in just 26 minutes.

“My mindset was really just keying in on the game,” he said, “playing basketball the right way, and just kind of basically playing through my teammates.”

How to Watch Notre Dame vs Georgetown Men’s College Basketball: Start time, TV/streaming info, game preview | NBC Sports (Yahoo)

The Notre Dame lineup is led by a slate of homegrown talent, including 2023-24 ACC Rookie of the Year Markus Burton of Mishawaka, Indiana, and Tae Davis of Indianapolis, who scored 27 points in his team’s most recent game, a win over Buffalo on November 11th. Like Georgetown, Notre Dame also struggled last season, finishing the year 13-20 thanks in part to a brutal stretch of conference losses in January and February that plunked them down to 13th in the ACC. They’ll hope to continue rebuilding in Year Two of Shrewsberry’s tenure.

The Georgetown squad is helmed by freshman phenom Thomas Sorber, a four-star recruit from the Philadelphia area who has put up 20+ points in each of his first two games with the Hoyas. “I’m always going to go to Coach when I see matchups and tell him to get him the ball,” junior guard Jayden Epps, one of the team’s veteran leaders, said of Sorber. “As we can see, I don’t think anybody can guard him down there, especially when he does what he’s supposed to do and gets good post position.”