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Anything was possible for Notre Dame basketball.
That was the mood the last time the Irish ventured to the Dallas Metroplex and delivered one of the season’s most impressive wins — in overtime against TCU — in early December.
Notre Dame lost leading scorer/leader Markus Burton to a broken left ankle that night but did so much so well in an 87-85 victory that you wondered what the rest of the season might hold. The Irish played with poise and swagger en route to a season-high 27 assists in a game that featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes.
Noie: Any surprise that this Notre Dame basketball game ended in this fashion?
Noie: Notre Dame basketball shows again it isn't in ACC mix. Can that change?
A return visit to Dallas nine weeks later likely won’t be anywhere close to as encouraging/enlightening. Notre Dame is up against it against an SMU team that leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring (86.4 ppg.), is third in field goal percentage (.496), second in 3-point field goal percentage (.374) and assists (17.3).
The Mustangs could cruise to 90 points; the Irish don’t have that gear.
It might be wrong place, wrong time, wrong opponent for a Notre Dame team that’s struggling to stay afloat in the ACC. Since winning at Stanford in late December to start league play, Notre Dame is 0-5 on the road. SMU is 12-2 at home.
Prayers may be needed.
Notre Dame leads 4-2, including 2-0 at SMU and 0-1 as ACC colleagues. The teams met once last season at Purcell Pavilion, a 97-73 SMU win. Braeden Shrewsberry scored 21 points while Garrett Sundra added 11 points and two rebounds off the bench.
This is Notre Dame’s first trip to University Park since a 63-49 victory on February 8, 1990, when the Irish were an Independent and the Mustangs were in the Southwest Conference. LaPhonso Ellis led the Irish with 16 points. Keith Robinson added 11 rebounds.
This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams this season.
∎ This one might get hide-your-eyes ugly, much like last season when SMU took Notre Dame’s basketball soul in a game it led by 25 points at halftime and by 34 overall. There was a time that night when it looked like the Mustangs might win by 60. That alone should be enough to inspire the Irish.
∎ Guard play is critical to any team’s success and there may be no better trio of ACC guards than SMU’s Boopie Miller, B.J. Edwards and Jaron Pierre, who all rank in the top 10 in minutes. Stop one and you might have a chance, but it’s hard for a guard-challenged team like Notre Dame to slow two, let alone all three. It may be a long night on the perimeter for the visitors.
∎ SMU looks to have found itself coming clear of an 86-67 victory Saturday at Pittsburgh. Prior to that win, the Mustangs lost five of eight. Notre Dame is catching SMU at the wrong time.
This is where we are with an Irish basketball team that has lost four straight, nine of 10 and 10 of 12 dating back to late December. You can’t point to a single player and say, watch out for this guy. You don’t know who might step in and deliver a game needed to win on the road.
Getting something consistently from someone has been a chore for Notre Dame, which has seen too many main guys go MIA in key moments, especially on the road where it has lost five straight league games, the last four by double figures.
Some nights, guys cannot make shots. Other nights, guys cannot stop fouling. Or turning it over. Or just not scoring enough or doing enough in games where they need to score and do more. Let’s leave this blank for now. Maybe we’ll be surprised when someone shows up. And out.
There may be no better pure lead guard in the ACC than Miller, a 6-foot, 175-pound senior from Chicago who’s at his third college basketball stop after playing previously at Central Michigan and Wake Forest.
As Miller goes, so go the Mustangs. He’s sixth in the league in scoring (19.1 ppg.), 11th in field goal percentage (.469), second in assists (6.77), fourth in free throw percentage (.866) sixth in assist/turnover ratio (2.61), eighth in steals (1.77) and, oh, yeah, first in minutes played (34.7).
If SMU wasn’t just OK at 5-5 in the league, he’d be under serious consideration for first team all-league. As good as SMU was last season at Notre Dame, Miller missed that game because of injury, which means the Irish have no reference point on him. That doesn’t bode well.
Notre Dame basketball 2025-26 schedule
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame basketball has lost four straight ACC road games by double digits
Continue reading...
That was the mood the last time the Irish ventured to the Dallas Metroplex and delivered one of the season’s most impressive wins — in overtime against TCU — in early December.
Notre Dame lost leading scorer/leader Markus Burton to a broken left ankle that night but did so much so well in an 87-85 victory that you wondered what the rest of the season might hold. The Irish played with poise and swagger en route to a season-high 27 assists in a game that featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes.
Noie: Any surprise that this Notre Dame basketball game ended in this fashion?
Noie: Notre Dame basketball shows again it isn't in ACC mix. Can that change?
A return visit to Dallas nine weeks later likely won’t be anywhere close to as encouraging/enlightening. Notre Dame is up against it against an SMU team that leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring (86.4 ppg.), is third in field goal percentage (.496), second in 3-point field goal percentage (.374) and assists (17.3).
The Mustangs could cruise to 90 points; the Irish don’t have that gear.
It might be wrong place, wrong time, wrong opponent for a Notre Dame team that’s struggling to stay afloat in the ACC. Since winning at Stanford in late December to start league play, Notre Dame is 0-5 on the road. SMU is 12-2 at home.
Prayers may be needed.
Notre Dame basketball (11-13 overall; 2-9 ACC)versus SMU (16-7; 5-5)
- Date: Tuesday, February 10
- Start time: 7 p.m. ET
- Site: Moody Coliseum (7,000), University Park, Texas
- Tickets: Available.
What channel is Notre Dame basketball versus SMU on?
- TV: ACC Network
- Radio: 960 WSBT-AM in South Bend. Also on SiriusXM on ACC Radio and channels 955 and 956. You can also listen live free on Audacy.
- Live streaming: https://www.fubo.tv/stream/tv/?
Series history between Notre Dame basketball and SMU
Notre Dame leads 4-2, including 2-0 at SMU and 0-1 as ACC colleagues. The teams met once last season at Purcell Pavilion, a 97-73 SMU win. Braeden Shrewsberry scored 21 points while Garrett Sundra added 11 points and two rebounds off the bench.
This is Notre Dame’s first trip to University Park since a 63-49 victory on February 8, 1990, when the Irish were an Independent and the Mustangs were in the Southwest Conference. LaPhonso Ellis led the Irish with 16 points. Keith Robinson added 11 rebounds.
This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams this season.
Notre Dame basketball versus SMU storylines
∎ This one might get hide-your-eyes ugly, much like last season when SMU took Notre Dame’s basketball soul in a game it led by 25 points at halftime and by 34 overall. There was a time that night when it looked like the Mustangs might win by 60. That alone should be enough to inspire the Irish.
∎ Guard play is critical to any team’s success and there may be no better trio of ACC guards than SMU’s Boopie Miller, B.J. Edwards and Jaron Pierre, who all rank in the top 10 in minutes. Stop one and you might have a chance, but it’s hard for a guard-challenged team like Notre Dame to slow two, let alone all three. It may be a long night on the perimeter for the visitors.
∎ SMU looks to have found itself coming clear of an 86-67 victory Saturday at Pittsburgh. Prior to that win, the Mustangs lost five of eight. Notre Dame is catching SMU at the wrong time.
Keep an eye on ...
Notre Dame TBD
This is where we are with an Irish basketball team that has lost four straight, nine of 10 and 10 of 12 dating back to late December. You can’t point to a single player and say, watch out for this guy. You don’t know who might step in and deliver a game needed to win on the road.
Getting something consistently from someone has been a chore for Notre Dame, which has seen too many main guys go MIA in key moments, especially on the road where it has lost five straight league games, the last four by double figures.
Some nights, guys cannot make shots. Other nights, guys cannot stop fouling. Or turning it over. Or just not scoring enough or doing enough in games where they need to score and do more. Let’s leave this blank for now. Maybe we’ll be surprised when someone shows up. And out.
SMU PG Boopie Miller
There may be no better pure lead guard in the ACC than Miller, a 6-foot, 175-pound senior from Chicago who’s at his third college basketball stop after playing previously at Central Michigan and Wake Forest.
As Miller goes, so go the Mustangs. He’s sixth in the league in scoring (19.1 ppg.), 11th in field goal percentage (.469), second in assists (6.77), fourth in free throw percentage (.866) sixth in assist/turnover ratio (2.61), eighth in steals (1.77) and, oh, yeah, first in minutes played (34.7).
If SMU wasn’t just OK at 5-5 in the league, he’d be under serious consideration for first team all-league. As good as SMU was last season at Notre Dame, Miller missed that game because of injury, which means the Irish have no reference point on him. That doesn’t bode well.
Notre Dame basketball 2025-26 schedule
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame basketball has lost four straight ACC road games by double digits
Continue reading...
