Bold opening: Notre Dame’s sharpshooter steals the show with a career night, turning back Evansville 82-58 and reminding everyone why one hot hand can redefine a game.
In South Bend, Braeden Shrewsberry erupted for a career-best 28 points, capped by a personal best eight triples, as Notre Dame cruised past Evansville 82-58 on Saturday. He set the tone early, drilling three 3-pointers and tallying 11 points in the opening eight minutes. Evansville briefly surged to take a 12-10 lead, but Shrewsberry answered with back-to-back 3s, and Sir Mohammed joined the barrage with another from long range to push the Irish ahead 19-12 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
Shrewsberry kept firing in the second half, adding two more 3-pointers and finishing the half with 17 points. The Irish carried a 41-29 lead into intermission. Evansville fought to stay in range as Connor Turnbull poured in 10 straight Aces points and the Purple Aces chipped away with a 12-4 run to pull within 52-49 with just over 12 minutes remaining. Notre Dame answered, with a sequence of three-pointers from Shrewsberry, Garrett Sundra, Logan Imes and Mohammed widening the gap to 67-51 with eight minutes left.
Shrewsberry finished 8-of-10 from three and 9-of-12 overall, while Mohammed poured in a career-best 21 points. Jalen Haralson added 10 for the Fighting Irish (9-3). Turnbull delivered 17 points, eight boards, and four blocks for Evansville (4-7), and Joshua Hughes contributed 14.
Notre Dame played this game without scoring leader Markus Burton, who underwent ankle surgery earlier in the week. The contest also carried heavy emotional weight: Saturday marked the 48th anniversary of the plane crash that claimed the lives of 29 people connected to Evansville’s program and community.
Up next
Evansville opens Missouri Valley Conference play at home Tuesday against Belmont.
Notre Dame, now 7-0 at home this season, hosts Purdue Fort Wayne on December 21.
For readers following the AP Top 25, stay tuned for updates and alerts on poll movements throughout the season.
