Notre Dame and Georgia Tech will try to carry over momentum from nonconference blowout wins when they return to Atlantic Coast Conference competition on Tuesday in Atlanta.
Notre Dame (7-5, 1-0 ACC) is coming off a 91-62 victory over Le Moyne on Dec. 22. Georgia Tech (6-7, 0-2) routed Alabama A&M 92-49 on Saturday, its largest margin of victory under second-year coach Damon Stoudamire.
Notre Dame leads the series 17-13. The Fighting Irish have won the last three meetings and six of the last seven, although only one of those games was decided by more than seven points.
Notre Dame has played the last six games without point guard Markus Burton. The sophomore, last season’s ACC Freshman of the Year, injured his right MCL against Rutgers on Nov. 26 when an opponent fell on him. Burton leads the team in scoring (18.2) and assists (4.3).
“Every week that goes by he’s getting better,” coach Micah Shrewsbury said. “We’re going to err on the side of caution. You can see progress on a daily basis.”
Without Burton, the Irish have leaned on Braeden Shrewsberry (16.5 points), Tae Davis (15.8), and Matt Allocco (9.8). Davis is averaging 18.6 points over the last six games.
“I think his level of comfort in our system, his level of comfort in his play, it’s been great,” coach Shrewsbury said. “We needed people to step up with Markus out and Tae has been a great leader for us on both ends of the court.”
Georgia Tech’s defense held Alabama A&M to 20.8 percent shooting (15 of 72), the second-lowest clip in program history, and scored 90-plus points for the third time this season. It was a needed performance after the Yellow Jackets had been hammered 82-56 by Duke the previous week.
“We’ve got to worry about who we are,” Stoudamire said. “That’s all I care about — getting better as a team, getting better individually and getting ready to get back into ACC play.”
The Yellow Jackets are led by Lance Terry (15.4 points), Baye Ndongo (12.8 points, 7.1 rebounds) and Javian McCollum (10.7 points).
–Field Level Media
