SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-3) are looking to extend their three-game winning streak and remain undefeated at home as the Irish have posted a 6-0 record inside of Purcell so far this season.
The Evansville Aces (4-6) come to South Bend for the sixth time in program history on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 2 p.m. ET on ACCN.
Notre Dame leads the overall series 6-4 as the Irish are perfect 5-0 at home against the Aces. The last two match ups have been played in Purcell Pavilion, but the last time the two programs have faced each other was in 2012, where the Irish won 58-49. Before that, the last matchup was 20 years prior in 1992 where the Irish won 76-70 at home.
WEDNESDAY’S WIN
The (RV) Notre Dame men’s basketball team (8-3) has won three-straight games as they defeated the Idaho Vandals (6-4) in an 80-65 battle inside of Purcell Pavilion on Wednesday night.
The Fighting Irish shot a blistering 61.3 percent in the second half, where they outscored Idaho 47-32. Cole Certa, Jalen Haralson and Braeden Shrewsberry all recorded double-digit points in the second half alone.
Haralson led the offensive charge with second 20-point performance in a row, followed by Towt with 19, Certa with 15, and Shrewsberry with 14.
Eleven games into the season and the Irish sit at 8-3 and look to make it four wins in a row when they host Evansville on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. ET on ACCN.
The Fighting Irish will play three consecutive games inside Purcell Pavilion before departing for the Christmas break and gearing up for ACC play.
HEADBAND TOWT
Carson Towt continues to be rebounding force for the Irish and he did it again on Wednesday night in the win over Idaho – and he did in fashion. Sporting the headband for the first time this season, Towt recorded his third double-double of the season.
He finished with an impressive season-high 19 points on 9-12 shooting while also grabbing 15 rebounds. Towt is now 15-18 from the floor over the past two games.
MARK ZACKERY IV ADDED TO MBB ROSTER
Glenn & Stacey Murphy Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry announced the roster addition of Mark Zackery IV on Thursday afternoon.
Zackery IV is fresh off his freshman football season at Notre Dame, but is no stranger to the game of basketball. The former Indiana Class 4A state champion and Indiana All-Star will provide immediate depth to the point guard position.
“I think that Mark will be a great addition to our program,” Shrewsberry stated. “I have seen him play many times throughout his high school career. Whether competing with Team Teague, Indiana Elite, or Ben Davis High School, he always does things that help lead to winning. He will be an asset for us with his ball handling, playmaking, and defensive abilities. More importantly, he is a great young man that will add more value to our locker room and culture.”
WHAT A WEEK
A home win and SEC Challenge victory over Mizzou … then a Quad 1 win at TCU in a hostile environment, in overtime no less … with two stellar back-to-back wins, the Irish jumped from 86 in the NET to 69 and that’s not all.
They received votes in the A.P. poll for the first time in the Coach Shrews Era. They appeared at No. 25 in Andy Katz’s Power37 and No. 41 in Jon Rothstein’s 45.
In both games, they defied a stigma about finishing out close games. A Certa three from deep to come up clutch or a Haralson fadeaway to send it to OT. They stayed together and competed; they believed. As Coach Shrewsberry stated, it was a culmination of all their games played, specifically the three losses this year.
In fact, not only did they close, but they battled back. The Irish were down 12 to Missouri (7 at the half) and 11 to TCU (9 at the half). The last time Notre Dame came back to win after being down 9+ at halftime was a 13-point deficit to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tourney on March 7, 2018.
“Our guys have a lot of belief,” Coach Shrewsberry said. “In order to keep that belief, something good has to happen for them. They earned the right for something good to happen to them. Our guys earned it by doing things the right way. We needed to win a close game. We needed to go through these tough moments and come out on the right side.”
It was done by playing team basketball – making the extra pass and hitting clutch shots.
Notre Dame produced 16 assists on 25 made field goals against Mizzou. Then recorded 27 assists on 33 made field goals at TCU. The latter marked the most assists in a game since at Syracuse on Jan. 4, 2020.
That’s 43 assists on 58 made field goals over the two games. The Irish collectively shot 50.9 percent from the floor and converted 23 three-pointers.
NEXT MAN UP
The Fighting Irish will be without their floor general, Markus Burton, for the forseeable future. On Wednesday, Dec. 10, he had surgery performed on his left ankle, an injury he incurred at TCU.
Burton was averaging a team best 18.5 points per game and was coming off one of his most complete games of his career after dropping his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 assists vs. Missouri. He had six points and five assists in 10 minutes at TCU.Burton had a phenomenal start of the season, becoming just 1-of-3 Notre Dame plaeyrs over the past 30 years to total 180+ points, 30+ assists and 15+ steals over the first 10 games, joining Jerian Grant (2013-14, 2014-15) & Chris Thomas (2002-03).
HARALSON IN THE CLUTCH
Adding on to the Next Man Up mantra was guard Jalen Haralson at TCU. Down two with three seconds remaining, Haralson hit a step-back fadeaway jumper as the freshman tied it up 76-all to take it into overtime.
Haralson finished the night shooting 8-12 from the floor to record a career best 20 points, push a career high 9 assists.
Other ND greats over the last three decades to match Jalen’s stat line of 20 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 1 block: Jerian Grant in 2015 / Chris Thomas x3 (twice in
2002 and once in 2005).
“The thing that I told Jalen, right before we went out after halftime, I said, ‘You’ve got to be the best player on the floor with no doubt of who that is,’” Coach Shrewsberry said. “I thought he did that in the second half.”
CERTA-FIED
Speaking of great weeks, ladies and gentlemen, Cole Certa. The sophomore sharpshooter flashed it in the season opener when he dropped 22 points on a career best 6-9 night from three-point range. He flashed it last season in the win over Stanford when he drained a corner three with 18 seconds left for the 56-54 win.
Then the Illinois native delivered in a major way in the win over Missouri, recording the game-winning three with 17 seconds left. In fact, Certa converted three triples in the final 4:35 of the game, ultimately finishing with 14 points.
Next, Certa went NBA Jam fire mode in the second half at TCU, where he drained four triples in a row. He ultimately converted five in the half and six in the game to finish with 20 points. It marked the second game this season in which Certa came off the bench and drained 5+ threes.
Most recently, Certa shot an impressive 75% from deep, knocking down 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the win over Idaho.
For Notre Dame – most games off the bench w/ 5+ three pointers made since 1996-97 (Single Seasons Only):
- 2025-26 Cole Certa 2
- 2016-17 Matt Ryan 2
- 2003-04 Chris Quinn 2
PROTECT PURCELL
The Fighting Irish have done just that and have protected Purcell with a 6-0 start. The Irish are averaging 10 more points per game at home, where they are shooting a hot 50.9 percent from the field. They are also averaging 10.7 made threes per game at home.
Individually speaking, four Irish are averaging double figures inside Purcell: Markus Burton (20.2), Jalen Haralson (14.0), Braeden Shrewsberry (11.8), Cole Certa (11.5).
The Irish are looking for a 7-0 start at home for the first time since the 2022-23 season. If they closed out the non-con perfect at home, that would mark the first time since 2021-22.
WHO’S HOT
Jalen Haralson, who gives this Notre Dame offense a new look and feel. He’s another ball handler who can attack the paint, or post up or get to the front of the rim. He also provides length on the defensive end.
He’s been Mr. Dependable – nine straight games in double figures (includes Kansas, Houston, Missouri, TCU) – averaging 15.7
points in that span on 54.6% shooting.
More specifically, last week in the wins over Mizzou and TCU, Haralson averaged 16.5 points on 68.4% shooting, plus 4.5 rpg & 5.5 apg.
He’s getting to the rim at will, where he converts a whopping 75.0 percent – that’s 12.4 percent above the D1 average.
However, the hottest shooter from last week award goes to Cole Certa. The sophomore averaged a team best 17.0 points on a blazing 10-19 (.526) from three.
He’s currently 40.6 percent from three on the season. His sweet spot has been the corner three, where he’s 10-22 (.455). In addition, he’s averaging 2.4 made threes per game.
Lastly, Carson Towt is coming off a big performance in the win over Idaho, posting his third double-double of a season-high 19 points and 15 rebounds.
In the win over TCU in the game prior, the graduate poured in 13 points on a perfect 6-6 from the floor. Towt also recorded nine boards & four assists.
REBOUNDING TRANSLATES
Coach on Towt: “He’s energy personified. There have been a ton of transfers that transferred up and there scoring output doesn’t necessarily follow. Rebounding translates at every level. It’s heart and it’s effort. That’s what he does. Carson is just max effort, man. He just plays really hard. His effort on the glass on both ends, his physicality. He’s a big brother to these dudes. He’s feeding their belief because of the energy and the confidence that he gives them.”
Last year’s NCAA rebounding leader Carson Towt has been a high-level impact transfer from Northern Arizona. To start, he tied his career-high 19 rebounds in the season opener, which also set a new record for an Irish debut. He produced two double-doubles in the first five games. He then became the first Irish player in the conference era (1995-present) to start the season with six straight games with double-digit rebounds.
Towt’s current rebounding rankings:
- 10.5 rpg ranks 13th nationally, 2nd in the ACC
- 3.45 offensive rpg – 2nd in the ACC
- 7.1 defensive rpg – 13th nationally, 2nd in the ACC
- 1,194 career rebounds – leads all active players
NOTRE NOTABLES
- The Irish are 14 wins away from 2,000 all-time. They would become the eighth program to achieve this feat.
- Certa is a perfect 20-20 from the FT line. In terms of D1 players who remain perfect from the stripe, Certa has converted the fifth most.
- For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Fighting Irish opened the season with three straight 20+ point victories.
- The Irish are ranked 36th nationally in mid-range field goal percentage, making about 43.7% of their attempts from those locations vs. Average Oppnent.
- Notre Dame does a fantastic job to prevent opposing teams from capitalizing on chances from offensive rebounds. The squad allows the Average Opponent to convert only 3.3% of all second-chance opportunities (ranked eighth in the NCAA), and with a rating of 10.27, they’re 13th in potential points allowed off of the offensive glass as well.
- Kenpom Rating: Offense 114.6 (72nd) & Defense 101.0 (64th).
- Overall KenPom sits at 60.
- Current NET rating of 67.
