Four thoughts from the home office couch after Thursday’s semifinal in the Legends Classic between Notre Dame men’s basketball and Auburn in New York …
Notre Dame basketball has a long way to go
Look beyond the lopsided final score and the frustration that this one looked like men against boys.
Varsity against the junior varsity? How about the varsity against middle schoolers?
On Thursday, Notre Dame (1-2) lost to Auburn, 83-59, in the semifinals of the Legends Classic at Barclays Center. Save for a brief burst late in the first half, Notre Dame was never in it. That’s going to happen when you have the kind of roster Notre Dame has. That’s going to happen when you have the kind of rebuild Notre Dame has.
“Just thought we got beat by a better team,” said Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry. “A more physical team. A more talented team. Played harder than us.”
In a season like what this one might become for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team, it’s vital to find solace somewhere. In something. Or someone.
Bright spots? Junior J.R. Konieczny had scored 15 total points with 15 total rebounds in his collegiate career before going for 18 points and 11 rebounds, both team highs. That was nice. So was sophomore Tae Davis, who spent last season at Seton Hall. His return to the New York metropolitan area worked out. Davis averaged five points and 4.5 rebounds the first two games, then had 13 and six in 18 minutes. He was one of too few Irish who didn’t look scared the first few minutes.
Freshman guard Braeden Shrewsberry, who seemed on the verge of maybe moving to a reserve role to help his early shooting struggles, bounced back from a 0-for game (0 points, 0-for-7 from the floor) against Western Carolina with 10 points and three rebounds in 30 (still too many) minutes.
Staring at a big rebuild, it’s all about small steps for this team this season when they have games (and they may have a lot of them) like Thursday.
Noie:Notre Dame men’s basketball no stranger to playing/winning in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center
Tough learning experience for Markus Burton
Point guard Markus Burton made it look too easy 10 days earlier against Niagara when he erupted for 29 points, the most an Irish freshman has scored in his first game in program history. First week of his collegiate career, Burton averaged a team-high 23 points and flirted with Atlantic Coast Conference player of the week honors. He was that good.
It wasn’t always going to be that easy. We saw the other side — the hard side — of it Thursday.
Those drives down the lane and right to the rim that Burton had in bunches against Niagara weren’t there. Going against longer, stronger, more athletic defenders, the 5-foot-11 (maybe) Burton struggled. He finished with 12 points in 29 minutes. He took 20 shots. He made four. He got swatted. He took four 3s. He made none.
Burton looked like a freshman point guard in his third collegiate game, but in his first against elite athletes. He’ll have to learn quickly from this one. Those long and lanky dudes on Auburn? They’re all over the ACC. He’s going to see a steady diet of them soon.
“It’s not high school, right?” Coach Shrewsberry said. “Northern Indiana Conference doesn’t have 6-11, 7-foot dudes in there trying to block his shot. He’s got to learn through mistakes, but he also has to learn during the game to play off two feet, to shot fake, to find other guys. He’s got to make other guys better.
“When he figures that part out, he’s going to be a real good player.”
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Second-half Auburn avalanche buries Irish
It took nearly 17 minutes Thursday before Notre Dame settled down, slowed its breathing and realized that, hey, maybe it can play with a team from the Southeastern Conference.
At the start, the Irish looked so out of their league. Overwhelmed. Overmatched. They committed three shot-clock violations in the first 7:13. They were again down big early — 10 points less than five minutes in. They looked unsure. Uncertain. Maybe even a little … scared.
The final 3:15 of the half, they flowed. After trailing by as many as 14, Notre Dame just played. The Irish moved the ball. They got stops. They made shots. After scoring 19 points in the first 16-plus minutes, they went for 14 points in the final 3:15 to get within six. It was a snapshot of what this team might be. Eventually. Like, say, March.
Then the second half started and the avalanche arrived. Notre Dame got buried. On the backboard. In transition. On offense. There was Irish blood all over the Barclays Center floor. Nothing could stop the hemorrhaging.
Irish ‘take foot off the gas’
∎ Speaking of that second half, any tweaks Shrewsberry discussed with his squad at the break didn’t take. Notre Dame had to have felt good about where it was 20 minutes in. Down by six with some momentum and some rhythm on offense, maybe the Irish would make a run and make a game of it.
One team was ready to compete to start the second half. That team wasn’t Notre Dame.
Auburn scored the first 11 points and strung together a 15-1 scoring burst in the first 3:40 to end any drama in this one. At that point, it was time to hop on the No. 2 or 4 trains outside the arena, get back into Manhattan and get an adult beverage. No reason to hang around the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues.
“We made a run, got it close at halftime, then took our foot off the gas,” Shrewsberry said.
Slow starts have crippled the Irish in first halves of all three games this season. Start slow in the second, and you wind up doing what the Irish did Thursday — going 2-for-26 (7.7 percent) from 3, trailing by as many as 26 and finishing with walk-ons/end of bench guys.
“All these games are learning experiences for us,” Shrewsberry said. “I just didn’t think we played well. We’ve got to play better.”
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.
BOX SCORE: AUBURN 83, NOTRE DAME 59
2023 LEGENDS CLASSIC
Semifinals
AUBURN (83): Broome 7-11 0-1 15, Moore 3-3 3-4 10, J.Williams 5-9 0-0 11, Holloway 5-9 1-1 15, Jones 1-5 0-0 2, K.Johnson 1-6 6-7 8, Baker-Mazara 2-3 2-3 6, Donaldson 4-7 0-0 10, C.Johnson 2-2 0-0 4, Berman 0-0 0-0 0, Cardwell 1-2 0-0 2, Harper 0-0 0-0 0, Muschalek 0-1 0-0 0, Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Sobera 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-58 12-16 83.
NOTRE DAME (59): Davis 5-8 3-3 13, Zona 0-1 1-2 1, Burton 4-20 4-5 12, Roper 1-5 0-0 2, Shrewsberry 4-11 0-0 10, Konieczny 7-11 4-5 18, Imes 0-2 0-0 0, Booth 0-4 3-4 3, Wade 0-0 0-0 0, Braiton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 15-19 59.
Halftime: Auburn 39-33. 3-Point Goals: Auburn 9-21 (Holloway 4-5, Donaldson 2-5, Moore 1-1, Broome 1-2, J. Williams 1-3, Baker-Mazara 0-1, K. Johnson 0-2, Jones 0-2), Notre Dame 2-26 (Shrewsberry 2-7, Zona 0-1, Imes 0-2, Booth 0-3, Davis 0-3, Konieczny 0-3, Roper 0-3, Burton 0-4). Fouled Out: C. Johnson. Rebounds: Auburn 35 (J. Williams 7), Notre Dame 32 (Konieczny 11). Assists: Auburn 20 (Holloway 5), Notre Dame 9 (Zona, Burton 2). Total Fouls: Auburn 18, Notre Dame 16.