Notre Dame open season with 89-80 win over Stonehill

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame Men's Basketball win their season opener against Stonehill 89-60.

The wait is over, and Notre Dame began their season with a 29-point win. The Irish did everything right, shooting 50.8% from the field, 47 % from 3pt, and 72% from the free throw line. Even with those impressive numbers, second year Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry wasn't satisfied.

"I walk off and I'm sitting there in the locker room by myself. I'm like, man, we gotta be better. Like, I just...I didn't think we played well," Shrewsberry said.

Shrewsberry holding his team to high standards is not surprising. Stonehill held a two-point lead for less than 90 seconds and outscored Notre Dame in points off turnovers 14-8. Everything else was in favor of the Irish. Guess what? Still not enough.

"It's crazy. I'm saying this and they scored 60 points and shot 30% but I think our defense could even been better. I didn't think we were very disciplined early and especially in the first half," Shrewsberry mentioned.

With a 46-29 lead at halftime, Notre Dame didn't look great, but they looked like a team that was playing their first regular season game of the season.

"I think the first game is always, you know, regardless of who you play against, or anything like that, it's always choppy," Princeton graduate transfer Matt Allocco said.

It was only the second time the team took the floor together since the 91-54 exhibition win over Purdue Fort Wayne. There's seven new pieces on the roster and all 13 available players got playing time.

"You know, everyone's excited to play, maybe a little too excited, you know, a little jumpy. But, you know, once we got in the flow of things, I think we started to settle down on both ends," Allocco added.

Allocco shot 100% from the field in Wednesday's win. 3-3 from the field, 2-2 from 3pt, and 2-2 at the charity stripe for a total of 10 points, along with three rebounds and two assist.

The majority of the workload came from Sophomore Guards Braden Shrewsberry and Markus Burton with 18 points each.

"For us to win these games is really important. Every single one and it's the next game on the schedule that's the most important game. So, like, now that this is over, Buffalo's most important game," Shrewsberry said.

Notre Dame vs Buffalo Monday November 11 at 7 p.m. Purcell Pavilion.