With 2:55 left in Notre Dame’s game with Virginia, head coach Micah Shrewsberry looked down his benched and summoned five new players.
It was the time of the game when the team that was being blown out decided to let the other coach know that they were surrendering. It seemed appropriate, considering the score was 73-48.
What most didn’t expect was Notre Dame being the team that had 73 points.
Two games ago, Shrewsberry’s team lost to the Citadel by 20 points.
Not many people would imagine that Shrewsberry would get his signature win two games later by blowing out Virginia 76-54.
Is the winning formula sustainable?
Notre Dame held a light shooting Virginia team to 38% including 2-11 from the three-point line.
The Irish defense forced Virginia’s offense to depend heavily on Reece Beekman. When that happened, the Cavaliers stood and watched Beekman work too hard to penetrate.
Virginia’s lack of activity on that end of the floor allowed Notre Dame to dominate the boards. The Irish would win the rebounding battle, 40-27.
On the other end of the floor, the Irish carved up Virginia’s pack line defense.
It started with freshman Markus Burton getting two feet in the paint. Burton had four turnovers, but his decision-making continues to grow as the season progresses.
When Burton can penetrate and make good decisions, it helps his shooting percentage. Against the vaunted Cavaliers defense, Burton shot 6-10.
Shrewsberry’s deliberate offense style also puts pressure on the Irish to shoot the three well.
The Irish went 11-24 from long-distance. They made contested threes. They made threes when Virginia went under the screens. They made threes on penetration and kicks.
It was far from being a perfect game.
Notre Dame turned the ball over 14 times. They were able to survive it against another low-possession team. The conversation could be different if they turn the ball over like this against a team like North Carolina, Duke, Miami (FL), etc.
But, for now, Notre Dame has shown that the team is developing and going in the right direction. The next hurdle is having this type of effort on a nightly basis.
