Markus Burton scored 31 points and Notre Dame found enough late-game offense to beat Wake Forest 70-65 on Tuesday night at South Bend, Ind.
Tae Davis made two baskets in the last four minutes for Notre Dame (11-17, 6-11 Atlantic Coast Conference), which has won four of its past five games. Burton, a freshman guard, sank two free throws with 11 seconds left to eclipse his previous season-high point total (29) that was set in the opener against Niagara.
The Demon Deacons (18-10, 10-7), who scored only 22 second-half points, took a hit to their postseason aspirations just three days after knocking Duke out of a share of first place.
Several of Carey Booth’s 15 points came during critical second-half situations for Notre Dame, which also received 11 points apiece from Braeden Shrewsberry and Davis.
Wake Forest’s Kevin Miller poured in 16 points but missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 seconds left with the Demon Deacons trailing by four. Cameron Hildreth had 15 points and Efton Reid III supplied 12 points and 10 rebounds and Andrew Carr had 12 points.
Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis, who received national recognition for his production in victories against Pitt and then-No. 8 Duke last week, shot 2-for-11 from the field and ended up with seven points.
Shrewsberry’s 3-pointer gave Notre Dame a 64-60 edge with 1:28 left. That was just his second successful trey on nine attempts in the game, yet it provided the Irish with their largest lead of the game.
Before that, Notre Dame used a burst of Booth’s five points in 32 seconds to snatch a 51-50 edge. That preceded a stretch when neither team scored in nearly 3 1/2 minutes before two Burton free throws with 7:19 remaining put the hosts up by three.
Notre Dame guard J.R. Konieczny, the team’s third-leading scorer at 8.6 points per game, sat out because of an injured foot. The Irish didn’t receive a point from their reserves.
Wake Forest led 43-38 at halftime, bolstered by 58.6 percent shooting from the field. Hildreth and Miller combined for 24 first-half points to offset Burton’s 19.
The Demon Deacons finished the night shooting 42.4 percent from the floor to the Fighting Irish’s 37.9 percent. However, Notre Dame wound up 19 of 22 at the foul line, while Wake Forest was 8 of 10.
–Field Level Media
