Notre Dame 84, Georgetown 61: Irish pass first test with flying colors

Winning

If you watched Notre Dame’s previous game, you might be forgiven if you didn’t notice Matt Allocco played. His disappearing act was likely partially due to nursing an injury. But this afternoon, he absolutely owned the first half and was the team’s unquestioned MVP. Allocco poured in 15 points on 4-of-5 from three during the first 20 minutes, tacking on three assists for good measure. His only “mistake” was missing a free throw, but even that turned out well after the Irish corralled the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Allocco to drill a three. The man could seemingly do no wrong, and his performance was the story of the day.

Four quick points in the paint to start the game for Georgetown were erased quickly by a nifty Kebba Njie post move and a monster slam from Tae Davis, where he took the ball to the hoop from the three point line untouched:

Allocco took over shortly after by hitting a pull-up jumper off the dribble and pouring in two threes to collect eight points on three consecutive possessions. The torch was then passed to Davis, who collected a mid-range jumper, a transition layup, and a corner three(!) on the next three possessions to complete a monster 15-1 run for Notre Dame.

Aside from freshman center Thomas Sorber giving the Irish trouble early down low with offensive rebounds and put-backs, Georgetown had no identity on offense. They shot the ball terribly, but they weren’t getting the sorts of looks Stonehill and Buffalo got against the Irish. It certainly seemed like Micah Shrewsberry made three point defense a point of emphasis, because not only were the Hoyas not getting open looks, they frustratedly took the shots anyway, often looking like they were just chucking the ball at the basket. Georgetown was a horrendous 3-of-18 from deep in the first half.

The Hoyas worked their way back from the big Irish run by finally hitting a couple threes, but Allocco responded with a huge tripe of off of a Julian Roper rebound-and-kick to stem the tide. Shortly after, the Hoyas panicked and sent two defenders at the red-hot Allocco when he caught the ball in the corner, which freed up Burke Chebuhar for a wide open three. Emboldened, Chebuhar drilled another one on the ensuing possession, stretching the Irish lead to 17. Notre Dame finished the first half a scorching 7-for-12 from the three point line and went to the locker room up 44-29.

It was an encouraging half because the Irish did all of this while getting very little from their preseason first-team all-ACC point guard Markus Burton. Burton didn’t get in the scoring column until he got fouled on a cut and shot bonus free throws with just over 7 minutes left in the first half. His first field goal was a layup in traffic with little time before the halftime buzzer.

The tempo of the game slowed down a good deal in the second half with some colder shooting and a lot of fouls by both teams in the early going. The first eight minutes played to a draw, with the Irish going 0-for-5 from deep (including three open misses by Allocco) and doing a good amount of their damage from the free throw line. Burton got off to a quick start by drawing the third foul on Georgetown leader Malik Mack and then dishing to Njie for a dunk on the next possession, but that momentum didn’t last.

However, it was a different story when play resumed after the under-12 timeout. Burton quickly poured in a jumper and had a nice assist to Konstantynovskyi on the next possession to stretch the Irish lead to 19. Braeden Shrewsberry poured in a floater and a corner three, and Davis popped in a baby-hook from the lane to cap off a 19-5 run and turn the game into a laugher. Notre Dame was up 69-45.

Georgetown found their collective shooting stroke after that, but Burton never let off the gas, making a layup in transition, dishing to Njie for a dunk, and getting fouled to pour in some bonus free throws during the next stretch to prevent the Hoyas from making any headway. Shrewsberry emptied the bench with a minute left, but it was over long before that.

This was a fantastic performance through and through for the Irish, erasing whatever lingering unease there was from the tilt against Buffalo. Notre Dame will take a 3-0 record into two tune-up games with North Dakota and Elon before things get serious again.

Bullet Points:

• Nikita Konstantynovskyi had a fantastic “role player” performance, making all four of his shots before garbage time and generally being a menace on the glass. He also had a crafty no-look pass to Allocco that lead to free throws.
• Garrett Sundra surprisingly entered the game in the first half, marking his first non-garbage time appearance. He turned the ball over and didn’t do much else during his cameo.
• Chebuhar poured in another three after the game was decided, making him a perfect 3-for-3 for the game.
• Although Allocco quieted down considerably in the second half, notching only an uncontested reverse lay-up, he finished with a game-high seven assists. This was a huge performance during a game when Burton didn’t play his best. It seems like the Irish will be able to lean on his leadership for tough road games.
• Burton “not playing his best” still involved scoring 16 points (8-for-8 on free throws) and dishing out 5 assists.