Braeden Shrewsberry scored 19 points to lead six Notre Dame players in double figures as the Fighting Irish seized control during the middle 10 minutes to earn a 102-70 nonconference victory over Detroit Mercy on Friday in South Bend, Ind.
Shrewsberry, who scored just two points in the Fighting Irish’s opener, seized the leading role as reigning ACC scoring champ Markus Burton picked up two early fouls and prized freshman Jalen Haralson missed the game while in concussion protocol.
Shrewsberry drilled four of his five 3-pointers in the first half on his way to 16 points as Notre Dame (2-0) took a 44-31 lead into the locker room. He finished 5 of 8 beyond the 3-point arc as the Fighting Irish canned 14 of 32 (43.8%) for the game.
Burton, who was limited to one point in eight minutes during the first half, finished with 13 points. Northern Arizona graduate transfer Carson Towt contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Sir Mohammed, starting for Haralson, notched 10 points, six rebounds and six assists while freshmen Brady Koehler and Ryler Frost added 10 points apiece.
Titans sophomore TJ Nadeau hit 6 of 11 3-point tries on his way to a career-high 24 points. No other Detroit Mercy player scored until 8:53 remained in the first half. Ayden Carter added eight points off the bench for the Titans (0-2), who hit 9 of 30 3-point attempts (30%) after sinking just 8 of 40 (20%) in their opening loss at UIC.
Nadeau gave Detroit Mercy a 5-2 lead in the opening 90 seconds with a 3-pointer and a jumper. Things looked even better for the Titans when Burton picked up his second foul and went to the bench at the 17:48 mark, but the visitors managed just two points over the next seven minutes as Notre Dame gradually asserted control.
Shrewsberry and Cole Certa canned back-to-back 3-pointers to grant Notre Dame a 16-7 lead and force Detroit Mercy to take a timeout at the 10:39 mark. The Titans got as close as 24-19 on Keshawn Fisher’s 3-pointer with 7:02 on the clock, but Shrewsberry answered with a 3-pointer to spark a 40-9 spree over the next 10 minutes.
Shrewsberry’s 3-pointer with 18:22 to play forced Detroit to take another timeout in hopes of blunting Notre Dame’s momentum, but Burton delivered a three-point play and a 3-pointer in a 21-second span to keep the party going.
The Irish hit the 100-point mark with 1:23 to go when sophomore Brady Stevens, the son of Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, canned a layup for his first collegiate basket.
–Field Level Media
