This one could have been one of those wins for the Notre Dame basketball program.
One of those that makes the casual fan sit up and take note as the score scrolls across the ticker at the bottom of the screen at the end of the work day. One of those that makes the serious fan a little more serious. One of those that puts a little more spice in everyone’s step, even if it comes before Turkey Day.
It didn’t matter that it might come against an opponent with no number (national ranking) next to its name. It didn’t matter that it might come before we hit December in what can be a slog of a season.
For December and January and February and maybe March to mean something, Monday mattered a little more for Notre Dame against blueblood Kansas in the first round of the second-annual Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
If the Irish could corner some early confidence, if they could knock down some early shots, if they could weather the KU runs, there was a chance for Notre Dame to do something it needed to do — win a non-league game against a quality opponent.
Instead, Kansas (4-2) played the role of Big Brother against Notre Dame (4-2) in a 71-61 victory at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
You know how a big brother operates in athletics, even if you didn’t have one growing up. He lets you get just close enough to feel good before he decides that enough is enough and he asserts himself, his experience and his better overall athletic talent to knock you back down.
That was Kansas.
Notre Dame was good enough to hang around for much of the second half after tumbling into a 13-point deficit, its largest this season, in the opening 20. The Irish weren’t good enough to find that extra gear, that put pressure on big brother gear, when it mattered.
“When you get down like that, all your energy goes into coming back,” said Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry. “Sometimes you’re not able to get over the top when you need to.”
Going four of 24 shots (16.7 percent) from 3 cost Notre Dame. Yes, this was a game of runs. Kansas made a few; Notre Dame made a few. It went from a double-digit game back to a single-digit game thanks to Notre Dame’s fight and grit, but this one swung on two key second-half possessions.
With 7:50 to play and the Irish on a run down four, sophomore shooting guard Cole Certa found his sweet spot on the wing and waited for Sir Mohammed to see him. Mohammed saw him. With no Jayhawk defender nearby, Certa had the ball, had his feet set and had a clean look at a 3.
Six times out of 10, maybe eight times out of 10, heck, sometimes 10 of 10, Certa bangs in that look to make it a one-point game. It didn’t fall before two Byson Tiller buckets. The Irish went from down four to possibly down one to back down eight.
That one hurt.
Then down eight with 1:39 left, Notre Dame had a chance to put some more game pressure on Kansas when Jalen Haralson found Braeden Shrewsberry clearing through traffic at the 3-point line. Shrewsberry came into the contest having made 57.7 percent from 3. Knock it down, get a stop and this one gets interesting. Maybe the Jayhawks get tight. Maybe the Irish see the light.
Shrewsberry missed before four unanswered points from Kansas. A possible five-point game with game pressure on the ranked team flipped to a 12-point Irish deficit with a minute and change remaining.
That one hurt as well.
“Those are big possessions for us,” said Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry. “I need to do a better job of getting us into something so we can score in those opportunities.”
Disagree on that one. Notre Dame had good looks with shots it takes and normally makes. Maybe Tuesday against Rutgers, in what will be a culture test for myriad reasons, those shots fall.
Even before Notre Dame left for the desert Saturday afternoon, Micah Shrewsberry knew that this game would be difficult. For the first time this season, Notre Dame faced a team with two scoring, rebounding, game-changing bigs in Tiller and Kokomo High School grad Flory Bidunga. The head coach didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. Figuring out how to stop one would be a challenge. Figuring out how to stop both? Darn near impossible.
Impossible it was.
Bidunga and Tiller combined for 35 points, 18 rebounds and six blocks. Irish bigs Carson Towt and Kebba Njie managed four points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Elite beat average.
Markus Burton led the Irish with 24 points but needed 18 shots to get there. That leads us to this:
For Notre Dame to do anything against opponents of any substance, it must become something more than Burton taking the most shots. We’re back to basic basketball. Hoops 101. We’ve seen this play out each of the last two seasons — and the won/loss record shows how it has worked.
It hasn’t.
The Irish still cannot figure out how to move it better (six assists), how to space it better, how to be better so it’s not just about putting the ball in Burton’s hands and asking/expecting/allowing him to go get something.
Is Burton gifted? Yes, yes, 200 times yes, but there are other gifted players on the floor there somewhere. They need to know that. We need to see that.
Until Notre Dame can be more than Burton dribbling and Burton driving and Burton shooting and Burton scoring, outcomes like Monday are going to continue to be outcomes like Monday.
Which means more moral victories and fewer actual victories.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Could Notre Dame basketball get over that close game hump against Kansas?
Reporting by Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
