Irish down Wake Forest as Burton nets career high 31 points
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame notched what some consider their greatest win under Coach Micah Shrewsberry with a 70-65 victory over Wake Forest at Purcell Pavilion Tuesday night.
Local star point guard Marcus Burton, fresh off his third ACC Rookie of the Week award, downed a career high 31 points.
That performance makes Burton the fourth Irish freshman to score 30+ points behind Adrian Dantley, Troy Murphy, and Chris Thomas.
Burton has scored 59 points in his last two games.
For a team that has no promise past the regular season, the Irish competed against Wake Forest as if they had everything to lose.
Without Michiana native JR Konieczny, the options were slim, in terms of who would help reigning ACC Rookie of the Week, Markus Burton.
Burton got off to a hot start with 19 points in the first half, but he had plenty of help to go with it.
Starting with Carey Booth, 3-9 from beyond the arc, including two back-to-back early, to make it a 15-16 Wake Forest lead. Booth finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
Matching Booth's production was Tae Davis. Amid his foul trouble (4), the Indianapolis was 5-10 from the floor with 11 points, all while guarding the best player on the opposing team.
But it was Burton, who played phenomenal and relied on his teammates, that gave the Irish a surge, on a night that Braeden Shrewsberry returned to human form from beyond the arc (2-9).
Shrewsberry finished with 11 points, notably hitting two three-pointers, which makes 52 threes in ACC play. This breaks the school ACC record for the most threes during an ACC season, passing Prentiss Hubb, Matt Farrell and V.J. Beachem.
Burton's final stat line was 31 points, 11-11 free throws, three assists, one block, and four steals.
Most notably defensively, the Irish held Wake Forest's Hunter Sallis, who ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring with 18.3ppg, to seven points on 2-for-11 shooting. It was a season low for Sallis and the first time he was held to single digits since last year's Elite Eight round vs. UConn.
"Our culture has gotten better. It's remained strong, through tough times. It's remained strong. Now culture is like, it's creating itself, right? I don't want to mess this up. But in this culture, the head coach defines it. The assistant coaches defend it. And the players exhibited that's what's happening right no. They are exhibiting our culture," shared Coach Shrewsberry.
The final home game and Senior Day in Purcell Pavilion takes place Saturday, March 2 at 7:45 p.m.
The Irish will be celebrating three seniors, Raheem Braiton, Tony Sanders and Matt Zona. The Senior Day celebration will take place before the game, so it's recommended to arrive early to take part.
Even earlier that day, tune in to ABC57 Tipoff with Allison Hayes and LeVon Whittaker at noon on the CW25 to prepare you for Notre Dame's matchup with Clemson.