Even though Notre Dame is unbeaten, coach Micah Shrewsberry remains unsatisfied with certain aspects of the Fighting Irish’s performances.
Shrewsberry, who is in his second season coaching Notre Dame, hopes his team can produce a better showing Friday night when the Fighting Irish host Elon in South Bend, Ind. It will be Notre Dame’s final tuneup before heading to Las Vegas to face No. 24 Rutgers and No. 7 Houston.
Notre Dame (4-0) scored at least 80 points in its first three games when it earned wins over Stonehill, Buffalo and Georgetown. Against North Dakota on Tuesday, the Fighting Irish earned a 75-58 victory during which they shot 51.6 percent but also gave up 14 offensive boards, which infuriated Shrewsberry.
“I don’t think we prepared like we prepared for our last game or other games that we’ve played this season,” Shrewsberry said. “That’s the most disappointing thing for me.
“I don’t know if we had the right mindset coming into here of what we needed to do to play this game at the level we needed to play it at.”
The Fighting Irish survived losing the offensive rebounding margin by seven because they shot effectively and limited the Fighting Hawks to 34.4 percent shooting from the field. It was the fourth time Notre Dame hit at least 50 percent and third time it held an opponent under 40 percent.
Markus Burton paced Notre Dame with 29 points and nine rebounds. She scored 11 points in the final six minutes of the first half after the Fighting Irish held a two-point lead. Burton made 13 of 20 shots after shooting 36.7 percent (18-for-49) in his first three games.
Elon (2-2) is playing its second game this season against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent after giving then-No. 9 North Carolina a scare before falling 90-76 on Nov. 4 in its season opener. The Phoenix are averaging 83.3 points so far and are coming off a 75-48 win at Northern Illinois on Wednesday.
TK Simpkins led four players in double figures by scoring 19 points against the Huskies. TJ Simpkins added 16 as Elon shot 46.9 percent and outrebounded Northern Illinois 53-25 while grabbing 13 offensive boards.
“We showed that we can do a lot of good things, and we can hang with and can play against some of the best teams in the country.” Elon coach Billy Taylor said earlier this season. “Obviously, it’s … a long season ahead of us, and we’re ready to play.”
–Field Level Media
