Irish lose at home to Elon, 84-77

Late game flop

Notre Dame dropped its first game of the season on Friday night inside Purcell Pavilion. Elon stayed with the Irish all night and ultimately pulled away toward the end of the game.

From the ND press release:

Irish Can’t Hold On To Lead Late, Fall 84-77 To Elon

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball squad ran into an early season obstacle named Elon on Friday night, the same Phoenix squad that took North Carolina down to the wire in their respective season opener. The Fighting Irish (4-1) suffered their first loss of the season when they couldn’t hold on to their one-point lead with 1:42 remaining, as Elon (3-2) surged forward for the 84-77 victory.

Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry combined for 47 points and a combined 9-for-18 from three. Burton led with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, plus a career-best four made three-pointers. Burton also dished out five assists.

Shrewsberry poured in a season-high 22 points, three shy of his career best. Shrewsberry shot 7-of-13 from the floor and 5-for-11 from beyond the arc. He also recorded a career-high four assists.

Notre Dame shot 58.1 percent in the first half but 36.7 percent in the second. Elon had a strong 60.7 percent in the second half. The Phoenix outrebounded the Irish 35-24.

“Credit to Elon. I thought those guys played well and executed. They got timely stops when they needed to and we need to be better. Our defense let us down today,” Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry said.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Notre Dame started the game 3-for-3, but shortly after, recorded a four-minute scoring drought in which Elon countered with a 10-0 run. The Phoenix ultimately built their largest lead of the half up 20-13 at the 11:45 mark as they suddenly possessed the hot hand.

Soon after, Notre Dame’s offense found its footing and began to churn, firing off a 15-3 run to claim a 31-25 lead at 5:58.

After the run, Elon guard Nick Dorn was able to bring his team back into it, knocking down three straight three-pointers. Elon was able to ride his hot hand to get back into it, but Notre Dame held onto its lead and claimed a 46-41 halftime advantage.

Notre Dame connected on eight made three-pointers in the half, including three from Burton, which already tied his career high. Both Shrewsberry and Allocco knocked down a pair while Chebuhar converted one.

In the second half, Elon turned to Dorn yet again. The sophomore guard ultimately finished the game 5-for-6 from three, finishing with 24 points. He was the main driver of the offense all night.

Nonetheless, the second half continued to be a dogfight as neither team could pull away. In fact, the second half featured 11 lead changes.

With 4:22 remaining the Irish boasted a 73-72 lead. Fast forward to 1:42 and a Njie bucket down low gave the Irish a 75-74 lead.

However, the bottom line was that the Notre Dame defense couldn’t get a stop while the offense went 2-for-11 down the final stretch. Elon made its last four from the field to win the game 84-77.

UP NEXT

A huge rebound opportunity awaits. The Fighting Irish will compete in the Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. They’ll look to take down a pair of ranked teams in No. 24 Rutgers and No. 7 Houston. The third opponent is TBD.