Field Level Media
Mar 13, 2024
Braeden Shrewsberry scored 23 points and Markus Burton added 21 as 12th-seeded Notre Dame survived Georgia Tech's big comeback attempt to pull out an 84-80 victory in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Tuesday afternoon in Washington.
No. 13 seed Georgia Tech wiped out a 17-point deficit but couldn't hold a pair of one-point leads.
Tae Davis added 12 points and Kebba Njie had 11 points and nine rebounds as the Fighting Irish defeated the Yellow Jackets for the third time this season.
Notre Dame (13-19) returns to the court on Wednesday against fifth-seeded Wake Forest (19-12), which received a first-round bye.
Naithan George collected 24 points and seven assists and Baye Ndongo added 22 points for Georgia Tech (14-18), which committed two of its seven turnovers in the final minute when trailing by one point. Kyle Sturdivant's 10 points for Georgia Tech marked the highest point total for a reserve in the game.
The Irish made 16 of 19 free throws on the way to snapping a two-game losing streak.
The Yellow Jackets went up 78-77 on George's basket at the 4:24 mark for its first lead of the game.
A back-and-forth stretch ensued before the Irish carried an 81-80 lead to the final minute after Burton's drive for a bucket, ending a drought of more than five minutes without a field goal for Notre Dame.
A Georgia Tech turnover came before Burton missed a shot, but the Irish collected the rebound and Davis made a free throw before a teammate's lane violation wiped out the next attempt. The Yellow Jackets turned it over again before Shrewsberry sank two clinching free throws.
The Irish shot 53.8 percent from the field, but they were hindered by 14 turnovers.
Notre Dame was up 65-48 with less than 13 minutes to play.
Notre Dame, which held a 45-35 halftime lead, hit 10 of its first 18 attempts from 3-point range.
--Field Level Media