Notre Dame Hoping for Hotter Shooting vs. Virginia

Notre Dame HC Micah Shrewsberry Sends Message Following Loss to The Citadel

Notre Dame’s 20-point loss at home to The Citadel on Dec. 19 was so traumatic for the Fighting Irish that they set out to tear down their “foundation” and build it back up from “day one,” first-year coach Micah Shrewsberry said.

A win three days later over Marist was a small step in the right direction. Now, after a seven-day layoff, Notre Dame (5-7, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) will get a better sense of the value of its rebuild when it hosts Virginia (10-2, 1-0) in South Bend, Ind.

Adding to the embarrassment of their soul-searching 65-45 loss to The Citadel was the fact that the Fighting Irish were done in by former Notre Dame walk-on Elijah Morgan, who scored 19 points.

While Morgan made 5 of 7 shots from beyond the arc, the Fighting Irish missed their last 19 attempts from deep.

After Markus Burton tallied 21 points and four steals in a 60-56 win over Marist on Dec. 22, Shrewsberry credited the Citadel wake-up call.

“We sat in there as coaches for a long time after the game and we said at some point in time, way down the line, we’re going to remember this date — December the 19th, 2023 — because it changed how we approached everything,” Shrewsberry said.

Notre Dame has been plagued by 26.7 percent shooting from 3-point range, the worst among power conference schools.

Virginia was ranked last week before falling at then-No. 23 Memphis, 77-54. The deliberate Cavaliers were no match for the defensive pressure and tempo brought by the Tigers.

Virginia’s impressive record has another lopsided blemish, a 65-41 loss to Wisconsin in the Fort Myers Tip-Off in November.

Virginia is coming off a 79-44 victory Wednesday over Morgan State. Reece Beekman paced the Cavaliers with 17 points and seven assists.

With 22 assists and five turnovers, Virginia took care of the ball better than against Memphis (14 assists, 18 turnovers), but Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett rejected the idea that it was an improvement.

“Just a different game,” Bennett said. “Memphis was switching everything, pressing, getting to every guy where you had to put it on the floor and make plays. You couldn’t really compare the defenses.”

  1. College Sports News

    WCC to Add Grand Canyon and Seattle in 2025

    WCC adding Seattle U and Grand Canyon University

    WCC adding Seattle U and Grand Canyon University

    Seattle and Grand Canyon will be leaving the Western Athletic Conference and moving to the West Coast Conference starting July 2025.

    The nine current members of the conference are private universities with a religious affiliation. Seattle is a Jesuit institution, while Grand Canyon, situated in Phoenix, is a Christian college.

    Grand Canyon’s basketball achievements were a significant factor in attracting WCC commissioner Stu Jackson. The team has participated in the last two NCAA Tournaments and three of the previous four under the leadership of coach Bryce Drew.

    As the 12th-seeded Antelopes defeated fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s before losing to Alabama in the tournament this season.

    Saint Mary’s is currently a member of the West Coast Conference.

    The WCC, while also integrating Oregon State and Washington State this autumn (excluding football), will expand from 11 to 13 members by the 2025-26 season.

    The future beyond 2026 looks uncertain, with Oregon State and Washington State appearing unlikely to continue with the WCC.

    The former Pac-12 schools are under a two-year contract, expiring on June 30, 2026. Sources from CBS Sports suggest that the odds of the two Pacific Northwest institutions staying are slim, with a move to the Mountain West or a new conference formation being more probable.

    Following the departures of Sam Houston and New Mexico State last year, Seattle and Grand Canyon’s exit from the WAC will reduce the conference’s membership to just eight by July 2025.

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  2. College Sports News

    Ex-Cal State Fullerton G Max Jones Commits to Kansas State

    Kansas State adds athletic wing in left-handed shooter Max Jones

    Kansas State adds athletic wing in left-handed shooter Max Jones

    Former guard of Cal State Fullerton Max Jones has made a decision to join Kansas State for his upcoming collegiate season, according to reports.

    Notable alternatives that Jones purportedly pondered were New Mexico, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Florida Atlantic, and Loyola Chicago.

    During the previous season with the Titans, Jones maintained an average of 15.3 points and 3.0 rebounds across 24 games, in which he started 21. He secured the second-highest scoring position within the team, alongside being the second in 3-pointers with 42 baskets and 41 steals.

    In the season prior, Jones held an average of 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 32 games, amassing 34 three-pointers and 30 steals.

    Before making his way to Cal State Fullerton post the 2021-22 season, Jones spent two years at Division II Tampa, where he managed to achieve an average of 21.9 points across 21 games during his sophomore year with the Spartans.

    In the recent offseason, Kansas State acquired Dug McDaniel, a former player from Michigan recognized as one of the premier point guards available in this year’s transfer portal.

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  3. College Sports News

    Stanford Names Basketball Court in Honor of Tara VanDerveer

    View From The Top with Tara VanDerveer, Former Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball

    View From The Top with Tara VanDerveer, Former Coach of Stanford Women’s Basketball

    Tara VanDerveer’s legacy at Stanford will now be visibly acknowledged, with the school revealing on Thursday that the basketball arena’s floor will bear the name of the esteemed Hall of Fame coach.

    At the age of 70, VanDerveer stepped down following her 38th season at the helm of the Cardinal.

    She steered Stanford to 14 Final Fours and secured three national championships (1990, 1992, 2021). VanDerveer embarked on her coaching journey at Idaho (1978-80) and later coached at Ohio State (1980-85).

    In January, she surpassed Mike Krzyzewski to clinch the title of the most successful college basketball coach in history, across both men’s and women’s teams. VanDerveer concluded with a remarkable 1,216-271 record, boasting a 1,064-220 tally with the Cardinal.

    Alongside the unveiling of the Tara VanDerveer Court at Maples Pavilion this November, Stanford also established an endowed position in women’s basketball for an assistant coach in VanDerveer’s honor.

    VanDerveer said in a statement, “This endowment will go a long way to strengthening the future of Stanford women’s basketball. I have many wonderful memories of leading the women’s basketball program at Maples Pavilion.”

    “It’s an honor, and a little surreal, to know that my name will be linked to both in these ways, and I look forward to celebrating with all our fans this fall.”

    Last month, Stanford appointed Kate Paye, one of VanDerveer’s longtime assistant coaches who played for the Cardinal from 1991-95 and began coaching under VanDerveer in 2007, as the new head coach.

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