How did this Notre Dame men's basketball team just do that in the ACC Tournament?

WASHINGTON — They had come too far in this Atlantic Coast Conference first-round tournament game, in this college basketball season, to let it get away and go out this way. 

When this Notre Dame men’s basketball team had every reason to give in, and really, give up, the Irish found some more fight to extend their stay in this city and extend their season for at least one more game. 

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One more film session? One more walk-through? One more shoot-around? One more chance to go to battle with this band of basketball brothers? Why not? Notre Dame (13-19) was up for all of it following an 84-80 victory Tuesday over Georgia Tech at Capital One Arena. 

Up next, No. 5 seed Wake Forest, a team Notre Dame beat late last month back in South Bend. 

Next:Three key points to know about the second round ACC opponent for Notre Dame men's basketball

“This is a great feeling, man,” said sophomore power forward Kebba Njie. “Especially the ups and downs of this season, the feeling we have now is rewarding. Like the work is finally starting to pay off. 

“We’re more together now than we’ve ever been.” 

That togetherness was tested so many times this season that now, nobody gives it a second thought. That lackluster December loss to The Citadel? The Irish are better for it. Those seven straight ACC losses in midseason? Better for it. Falling into a 29-point hole at Syracuse and nearly coming all the way back for the comeback of all comebacks? Being overwhelmed earlier this month at North Carolina? 

Better for it. 

“We’ve seen a little of everything,” said junior guard Julian Roper. “When those things happen, we come close together. No one wants this to end now.” 

That’s why when Georgia Tech went on its run, and it was something serious (21-6), nobody on Notre Dame panicked. Guys didn’t bark at one another. Guys didn’t go into shells. They just kept playing. They found a way through. If this game was in December, Notre Dame loses it. January? Still a likely L. In March, this is a different story. Different team. 

Tested. Together. 

Even as Georgia Tech was closing quickly and the Notre Dame defense was leaking in all directions and the offense couldn’t refire, the Irish refused to fold. 

“We’re good,” freshman guard Markus Burton said to seemingly no one and everyone on the court during one late stoppage. “We’re good.” 

Know what? They were. Even when Georgia Tech took the lead — and led for all of 1:43 — Notre Dame had answers. Have Kebba Njie make some more free throws. Have the defense deliver that key stop. Make more free throws. Stay together and follow the team motto — empty the tank. 

The Irish emptied it. They planned to fill it back up again before Wednesday. How will they do that? Can they do that? All that matters is they have another opportunity to figure it all out. 

“We get a chance to play again,” coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “That's exciting. I would hate to be on the bus right now going home.” 

In season of firsts, Notre Dame adds another

Really, could spring break somewhere tropical be that better than what the Irish stepped out into early Tuesday evening? Temperatures in the mid 70s. Blue skies. A sure sign that spring’s coming. Cherry blossoms ready to bloom along the National Mall. 

Life Tuesday evening was good, well, except for the downtown traffic gridlock. Life with another basketball game? Even better. And Notre Dame’s first ACC Tournament victory since 2021 in its hip pocket. 

It’s been a season of firsts for Notre Dame under its first-year head coach. First home win. First road win. First league win. First league road win, ironically, against Georgia Tech in Atlanta in early January. Nobody on this team had ever been together to experience everything they’ve experienced over the last six months. 

Still, what the Irish experienced Tuesday, especially during the second half, had a very real been-there, done-that kind of a vibe. Seemingly on cruise control toward the second round, Notre Dame was up 17 and rolling. The Irish had scored a season high 45 points in the first half, when they got contributions from almost everybody. They were moving the ball, making shots and getting stops, doing stuff that only teams serious about March do this time of year. 

It looked like it would all fall apart in that sluggish second-half stretch. It felt like those 20 minutes took 200 to play. The clock didn’t seem to ever move. Seriously, it was stuck on nine minutes to play for like, 90. The Yellow Jackets didn’t seem to miss. For a stretch, it looked like hello, Cancun. 

Answering adversity has become as second nature for these Irish as answering texts messages. When adversity arrived Tuesday, and it arrived from all directions, Notre Dame answered. 

Naithan George gets going? No big deal. Baye Ndongo becomes Hakeem Olajuwon like in the post? OK. Just keep playing. 

If Notre Dame one day returns to the elite of the league and opens tournament play on Thursday with the other ACC heavyweights, nobody will give this first-round game a second thought. No reason. The significance of it from a big picture standpoint doesn’t matter. 

It mattered to the guys inside that locker room. A lot. 

“Every day, even when things weren’t going right, we still showed up,” Njie said. “We never broke apart. We kept showing up, kept being together.” 

Freshman guard Braeden Shrewsberry has run through countless scenarios in the gym and out in the driveway with his dad over the years. Down two, ball in his hands, one 3 to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals? Check. One shot to win the national championship? Probably that one too. 

Never has Shrewsberry played out the scenario of having to make two free throws to ice the game and give Pops his first ACC tournament win, but that’s what the kid they call Baby Shrews did. His two free throws with five seconds remaining sealed a second-round appearance. 

“I’m just really excited that we get to keep playing,” said Shrewsberry, who led the Irish with 23 points, two shy of his career high set in January against, yep, Georgia Tech. “I don’t think any of us are ready to go home.” 

Notre Dame might not stick around to see Thursday, but that’s fine. The Irish got the one they needed to get, for a whole host of reasons. For this group. For the next group. For the future. 

Irish basketball’s a long way from being back, but at least on Tuesday, in a first-round tournament game in an all-but-empty arena, it stayed on track. 

“Wish we could’ve gotten it rolling like this a little earlier,” Roper said. “It will be aight.” 

Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153. 

ACC TOURNAMENT 

First Round 

At Washington 

No. 12 NOTRE DAME 84, No. 13 GEORGIA TECH 80 

GEORGIA TECH (80): Gapare 1-3 3-4 5, Ndongo 8-16 6-8 22, George 8-13 3-3 24, M. Kelly 2-9 3-3 8, Reeves 2-3 0-0 4, Sturdivant 3-7 3-4 10, Coleman 1-4 0-0 3, Claude 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 27-57 18-22 80. 

NOTRE DAME (84): Booth 2-4 0-0 5, Davis 4-9 3-5 12, Njie 1-1 9-10 11, Burton 8-15 2-2 21, Shrewsberry 8-12 2-2 23, Imes 0-2 0-0 0, Roper 1-4 0-0 3, Zona 3-4 0-0 7, Konieczny 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-52 16-19 84. 

Halftime: Notre Dame 45-35. 3-Point Goals: Georgia Tech 8-27 (George 5-8, Coleman 1-4, Sturdivant 1-5, M. Kelly 1-7, Gapare 0-1, Ndongo 0-1, Reeves 0-1), Notre Dame 12-23 (Shrewsberry 5-8, Burton 3-6, Davis 1-1, Zona 1-2, Booth 1-3, Roper 1-3). Rebounds: Georgia Tech 21 (Ndongo 7), Notre Dame 29 (Njie 9). Assists: Georgia Tech 18 (George 7), Notre Dame 16 (Burton 8). Total Fouls: Georgia Tech 15, Notre Dame 17.