“All Hands on Deck” for Notre Dame after Losing Leading Scorer Markus Burton

The timing of Burton’s injury couldn’t be worse. With consecutive wins against Missouri in the ACC/SEC Challenge and on the road at TCU, the Irish appeared to have turned a corner in their third season under Shrewsberry and were well on their way toward building a strong postseason resume. And now they’ll have to spend the foreseeable future without their best player, who also leads the team in assists and is an extension of their coach on the floor. 

“It’s all hands on deck with our guys,” Shrewsberry said during a media availability shortly after Burton’s injury. “People’s roles don’t really shift. The time they play might shift, but you still need to be a star in what you do. That’s what we’re looking for for our group. We want to keep building.”

Among those whose role has changed the most is Jalen Haralson. The 6-foot-7 freshman was already in the starting lineup and making significant contributions before Burton’s injury. But with the team’s starting point guard out for the time being, he’s now being asked to serve as Notre Dame’s primary ballhandler.

So far, so good.

After handing out nine assists in the comeback win against TCU, Haralson tied his season high by scoring 20 points to lead an easy victory against Idaho in the first full game without Burton. The Irish then made short work of Evansville, with reserve guard Sir Mohammed making the most of his increased playing time with 21 points and three assists in 22 minutes off the bench. 

Shooting guard Braeden Shrewsberry, the coach’s son, and rebounding ace Carson Towt have also elevated their offensive production in the two games. That trend will have to continue for Notre Dame to continue its early momentum and return to the postseason for the first time since 2022.

If there’s a silver lining to the situation it’s that the Irish have experience playing without Burton, who missed seven games with a knee injury last season. A light schedule has also afforded the Irish time to adjust to the loss of their leader. There’s one more tuneup remaining before ACC play begins at Stanford on Dec. 30.

“We just have to do it in different ways now,” Shrewsberry said. “The one good thing is it’s going to test us as coaches. We can’t be cookie cutter. We’re not the Dukes of the world, the Kansases of the world that we’re gonna out-talent you no matter who you are. We’re gonna have to coach. We’re gonna have to scheme. We’re gonna have to figure it out.”

Will Wade’s message to his Wolfpack: It’s time to get tougher

You’d think that Will Wade would be in a good mood after a game in which his team won by 36 points, shot better than 50 percent from the floor and got a record-setting 47-point performance from sophomore Paul McNeil. All with top-scorer Darrion Williams out of the lineup.

But that wasn’t the case. The fiery NC State coach was spitting mad at his team’s effort in his postgame press conference following Wednesday’s 108-72 beatdown of Texas Southern and he wasn’t shy about calling his players out publicly because of it.

“We’ve got a lot of casual personalities on our team. We don’t have people that are revved up and ready to go,” Wade said. “I had one of the kids come to me, I’m tough. I said, [expletive], you’re not in the top 50 of the toughest players I’ve coached, not even the top 50. I don’t want to hear that. You ain’t tough.”

This isn’t the first time Wade has sounded this alarm. He confronted the Wolfpack about its lack of intensity on defense and the on glass after it stumbled to a 1-2 record at the Maui Invitational, with losses to Seton Hall and Texas. The team responded by showing improvement in a recent victory against Liberty and an overtime loss to Kansas. 

But it regressed against Texas Southern while giving up 15 offensive rebounds and 44 second-half points, issues that were masked by a school-record 11 three-pointers from the hot shooting McNeil.

“(It’s) great when somebody sets the school record for threes, but we’re relying on hope that one of these cats is going to go ballistic every night,” Wade said. “That’s what we rely on, just hope. And hope is a bad strategy in my book.”

The proof is in the results. Although NC State is 8-4 with a respectable NET ranking of 34, it has yet to beat a power conference opponent. That’s cause for concern with the ACC schedule set to begin after Sunday’s nonconference finale in Greensboro.

“We got all high major games from here on out. Kindergarten is over,” Wade said. “I’ve been concerned for weeks. This is who we are. I said it a couple weeks ago, if you’re not physical and you’re not tough, you better be alert and aware. We’re still none of the four.”

Cancer diagnosis sidelines Miami’s Marcus Allen

Miami native Marcus Allen was hoping for a triumphant homecoming when he joined the Hurricanes this season after playing his freshman campaign at Missouri. The 6-foot-7 guard was off to a solid start, averaging 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 18.9 minutes over his first eight games while helping Miami to a promising 10-2 record under new coach Jai Lucas. Things took an ominous turn for the worse on Friday, however, with a cancer diagnosis that will sideline Allen for the remainder of the season.

“Marcus has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and has begun chemotherapy treatment this week,” a statement released by Allen’s family said. “We want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during an extremely difficult time for our family. We thank God for his continued Grace, Mercy and Favor. We wait in anticipation for the miracle healing to take place. We are standing on FAITH.”

Allen, a former four-star prospect, has not played since a win against Georgetown on Nov. 28. According to the school, his condition was discovered following routine medical tests. A GoFundMe page has been set up by his family to help offset the cost of his treatment.

“Marcus is an incredible person and teammate and we will do everything we can to support him and his amazing family during this difficult time,” Lucas said in a statement. “Marcus brings toughness and selflessness to our locker room every day and those same qualities will help him defeat this disease. Our entire program will continue to support Marcus in any way that we can as he focuses on his health.”

Inside Rick Pitino’s “Special” Return to Kentucky

It has been 30 years since the St. John’s coach led Kentucky to a championship. He aims to celebrate with a win over the Wildcats on Saturday.

Around the rim

➡️ Jon Scheyer continues to reach impressive milestones in his young coaching career. Not only did the former Blue Devils shooting guard earn his 100th win on Tuesday with a 97-73 victory against Lipscomb at Cameron Indoor Stadium, he did it faster than anyone in ACC history. It took Scheyer only 122 games in three and a half seasons to hit the century mark. The previous record was 128 games by former Duke coach Vic Bubas. The accomplishment was even more special for Scheyer because it came with another former Blue Devils coach – all-time wins leader Mike Krzyzewski – watching from the stands. “One hundred wins. It’s cool,” Scheyer said in his postgame comments. “I played Tom Izzo last week and he’s got 700 something wins. It’s a lot of wins. I’ve got (Coach K) standing on the baseline and he’s got 1,200 something wins. That’s crazy. I’m just really proud of who I have with me, our staff, our players, and I’m really grateful.”

➡️ New Virginia coach Ryan Odom is proving that you don’t have to be a starter to play starter’s minutes. Or make significant contributions to the team’s success. Two of the Cavaliers’ top four scorers through the nonconference portion of the schedule have yet to start a game. Freshman Chance Mallory is averaging 11.7 points with 33 assists and a team-leading 22 steals in 24 minutes per game off the bench. North Dakota State transfer Jacari White is averaging 10.5 points in 18.1 minutes. Together with fellow reserves Ugonna Onyenso and Devin Tillis, they’re producing 36.9 points per game. The depth they’ve provided to Odom’s pressing, uptempo style has been instrumental in UVa’s impressive 9-1 start. “We want to play as many as we can,” Odom said during the ACC’s preseason Basketball Tip-off media event in Charlotte in October. “When you’re pressuring up the court, it takes a certain level of fitness to do that. It’s really tough to play 30-plus minutes. So you definitely want eight, nine, 10 in there. I think we have 10 guys right now that are pretty good players.”

➡️ Wake Forest’s Steve Forbes has earned a reputation for being a “Portal Whisperer” for his work finding hidden gems in the transfer market. His string of successes is continuing with the addition of Myles Colvin. The 6-foot-5 Purdue transfer, who earlier this season hit a buzzer-beater to defeat Memphis, earned Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week honors by making his first 11 shots on the way to a 33-point performance against Queens last Sunday. Colvin becomes the fourth Deacon to win the award since its inception in 2009. The other three – Alodens Williams, Tyree Appleby and Hunter Sallis – were also plucked from the transfer portal by Forbes.

➡️ As of Friday, ACC teams have combined to amass 31 wins against power conference teams this season. That’s the second-most of any league and 12 more than it earned all last season. The conference has also recorded 14 Quad 1 wins, based on this week’s NET rankings. Nine teams have contributed at least one of those victories led by Duke, which leads the nation with four. That’s the good news. The even better news is that with nine teams currently ranked among the top 50 in the NET, just one fewer than both the SEC and Big Ten, there will be more resume-enhancing Quad 1 opportunities available once conference play begins, enhancing the ACC’s NCAA Tournament prospects come Selection Sunday.