Preview: Pitt Opens ACC Tournament vs. Notre Dame

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers are heading into the famous one-and-done postseason college basketball offers, as they start ACC Tournament play

After an emphatic end to the regular season with a 93-67 win over Boston College at the Petersen Events Center on March 8, Pitt earned the No. 13 seed in the ACC Tournament.

Once all regular season games across the conference concluded, Pitt discovered they'd face the No. 12 seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The ACC Tournament will take place this week at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., a state home to four of the 15 participating teams.

Preview: Pitt vs. Notre Dame

The Panthers last faced the Fighting Irish back on Feb. 22 on the road. Despite the home team missing two of their starters, sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry and graduate student Matt Allocco, they took down the Panthers 76-72.

The loss was the first of Pitt's third four-game losing streak of the season, which put them from 12-2 overall and 3-0 in the ACC to 17-14 overall and 8-12 in the ACC.

The Fighting Irish are recovering from the departure of 23-year head coach Mike Brey. Last season, first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry led the Fighting Irish to a 13-20 record. This season, Shrewsberry and his team have achieved a 14-17 record heading into the match-up against the Panthers.

The best player on the Fighting Irish is sophomore guard Markus Burton, who earned All-ACC Second Team honors. He is also in the running for the Bob Cousy Award, an honor given to the best point guard in the country, and the Naismith Player of the Year Award, an honor given to the best overall player in the country.

Heading into the ACC Tournament, Burton averages 22.2 points per game, the second highest mark of qualifying players in the country. He also leads Notre Dame with 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

The Mishawaka, Ind. native heads into the tournament hot. In Notre Dame's regular season finale, Burton dropped 43 points in a 112-110 4OT win over Cal on March 8 at home.

The win was his fifth straight game scoring 20 points or more. Barring a pair of outings where he recorded only two points, Burton has recorded 15 points or more in every game this season.

Compared to his normal scoring output, the Panthers did a decent job slowing Burton down in their last outing. He recorded 20 points on 8-for-17 shooting including 2-for-8 from deep.

Notre Dame's third-leading scorer is Shrewsberry with 14 points per game. However, he was ruled out for the season prior to the last match-up against Pitt.

The Fighting Irish needed additional scoring to get past the Panthers last time and they got it from freshman guard Cole Certa.

Heading into the last contest against Pitt, Certa averaged 1.1 points per game. But as the Panthers have allowed opposing players to have career days against them all season, Certa shot 3-for-4 from 3-point range and 3-for-4 from the foul line in a four-minute span in the second half.

Certa hasn't repeated a performance like that since, but he has made a pair of 3-point shots in two of the last four games.

Notre Dame's second-leading scorer is junior forward Tae Davis, who is averaging a career-high 15.4 points in his 30.7 minutes per game.

Davis spent his first season with a minor role at Seton Hall averaging 2.8 points per game. Then, Davis transferred to Notre Dame and found a home as a full-time starter averaging just over nine points per game and 5.1 rebounds. This season, Davis has improved as a 3-point shooter on limited attempts and an efficient scorer in the paint.

Notre Dame was without senior guard Matt Allocco the last time they faced the Panthers. The Princeton-transfer is the knock-down 3-point shooter for Notre Dame, shooting a career-best 45.5% from deep on 3.7 attempts per game this season.

In the quadruple overtime win over Cal, Allocco dropped 24 points including 4-for-9 shooting from deep.

Accompanying Davis in the frontcourt is junior forward Kebba Njie, who leads Notre Dame with 5.9 rebounds per game. Standing at six-foot-10, Njie, who averages 6.1 points per game, doesn't take many shots but he is efficient and cleans the glass.

In the last outing against Pitt, Nije led Notre Dame with seven rebounds and added eight points.

Notre Dame is one of the better 3-point shooting teams in the nation and do a good job defending the same shots. Those strengths showed in the last contest against the Panthers and Notre Dame was even missing their best pure-shooter.

While Notre Dame does an adept job at keeping opponents from getting good looks from deep, they are not nearly as good at protecting the interior. Pitt redshirt senior forward Zack Austin alone averages 1.6 blocks per game while Notre Dame averages 1.7 as a team.

Should the Panthers take down Notre Dame on Tuesday afternoon, they will face No. 5 seeded North Carolina the next day, March 12 at 2:30 p.m.

Pitt, if they also won that matchup, would face No. 4 seeded Wake Forest before a likely match-up against No. 1 seeded Duke.

The ACC Tournament is grueling. Every round occurs the day after the last, meaning teams have little time to prepare for their next opponent.

However, for the first round, Pitt has had a few days to prepare for the Notre Dame. Each game, especially Tuesday against the Fighting Irish, could be the Panthers' last.

How to Watch: Pitt vs. Notre Dame

No. 13 Pitt faces No. 12 Notre Dame in the first round of the ACC Tournament on March 11 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. The game tips off a 2:00 p.m. on the ACC Network.

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