On Wednesday night, the Notre Dame Men’s Basketball team improved to 3-1 on the season after an 86-79 win over Bellarmine. It wasn’t a pretty game at all for the Irish as they struggled shooting the ball for stretches,
and struggled from the free throw line (again). Markus Burton led the Irish with 25 points while freshman Jalen Haralson added 16 points. Carson Towt added another double double to his Talley with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
From the ND press release:
Huge Irish Run Propels Them to 86-79 Win over Bellarmine
Notre Dame records 25-5 scoring run mid-game // Burton drops 25 points
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team remains undefeated at home this season after besting the Bellarmine Knights 86-79 on Wednesday evening.
The Fighting Irish utilized a 25-5 scoring run between the end of the first half and start of the second to flip the script and go up 20 points in the game. The Knights made an interesting late with a 10-11 shooting frenzy, but Notre Dame hit its free throws late to put it away.
Junior point guard Markus Burton recorded his third game of 20+ on Wednesday, dropping 25 points on 10-13 shooting. He also produced a season high four assists.
Freshman guard Jalen Haralson notched his third straight game in doubles with 16 points, while also grabbing four boards and dishing out five assists.
Graduate forward Carson Towt collected his second double-double on the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, which also means he’s 5-5 in games this year with double-digit rebounds, extending his streak.
Sophomore guard Cole Certa got into double figures for the second time this season with 12 points on 2-5 shooting from three and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line.
Notre Dame has now scored at least 78 points in all four home games, shooting 51.5 percent inside Purcell.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After making their first two shots to open the game, Bellarmine was held scoreless for the next three minutes as a Carson Towt finish and a Markus Burton trey would put Notre Dame in front 7-4 at the first media timeout.
Later tied at 14-all, only two players on each team had tallied points. Burton was already in double figures with 10 by 12:23 while Towt had four. Cole Certa broke the trend at 10:50 when his triple kicked off a solo 5-0 run to go up 19-16.
However, turnovers plagued the Irish during a long stretch in the first half, committing seven with 5:46 remaining till half, resulting in a 21-26 deficit. That’s when the Irish found another gear to end the half.
Notre Dame ended the first half on a 16-4 scoring spree to go up 37-30 at the midway point. Haralson scored eight points during this run, while Burton supplied six to bring his halftime total to a game high 16. Towt had eight points and nine rebounds at the break.
All-in-all, Notre Dame missed just three shots in the final 7:30 of the first half to finish 15-25 (.600). They also only committed one turnover during that final six minute scoring spree to finish with eight. Meanwhile, Bellarmine shot 10-22 (.455) in the half and were led by Jack Karasinski’s 12 points.
A Certa triple, plus buckets from Haralson, Towt and Burton extended the run to 25-5 to start the second half, going up 46-31 at 16:50. Defensively, the Irish forced three Bellarmine turnovers off the rip to start the half. By the 15:27 media timeout, the Notre Dame defense had limited the Knights to three second-half points.
Later, Logan Imes had the hot hand with six consecutive points from 12:56-10:43 to push the Irish ahead by 20 at 62-42.
Shrewsberry’s second triple of the night would make it a 68-42 ballgame, giving Notre Dame their largest lead of the night at 22 heading into the 7:16 media timeout.
Bellarmine wouldn’t go down without a fight though. After recording an impressive 9-9 stretch from the field (four of which were triples), the Knights pulled within seven at 79-72 with 1:30 remaining.
A pair of Towt free throws would extend the Irish lead back to nine at 81-72 with 1:28 remaining.
A Bellarmine jumper was matched with Certa free throws with 34 seconds remaining, but after being fouled on three point attempt, the Knights knocked down all three shots from the charity stripe to bring it within six at 83-77 with 25 seconds on the clock.
A Shrewsberry free throw was followed by a pair of Bellarmine free throws to make it a five-point ballgame, but Burton’s final two free throws would cap off the battle from the foul line as the Irish took home the win 86-79.
UP NEXT
A big challenge awaits as the Fighting Irish jet west for the 2025 Players Era Championship. The top teams in the country will converge on Las Vegas for Feast Week.
Up first on Monday, November 24, is blueblood Kansas. The very next day, the Irish will look to enact some revenge on Rutgers from last year’s Players Era. Both those games will be on TNT. The third game/opponent will be decided based on results.
