Micah Shrewsberry identifies difference-maker for Notre Dame defense

After dropping four-straight conference games, Notre Dame and head coach Micah Shrewsberry entered their game on Monday against Boston College looking to turn things around. That’s exactly what they did too, largely on the back of a strong defensive effort.

Following the game, Shrewsberry explained that he made a point of challenging his players to play better on the defensive side of the ball and it was that improved effort that helped Notre Dame to win 78-60.

“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Micah Shrewsberry said. “You don’t have to mess with success. If something’s working you stick with it. I think our effort on both ends of the court was great. I challenged our guys yesterday. We had a short turnaround and short prep for this game but I challenged, specifically Markus [Burton], Braeden [Shrewsberry], Tae [Davis], Kebba [Njie], I challenged them that they needed to play harder defensively.”

Boston College finished the game against Notre Dame shooting just 46.8 percent from the field and they had 18 turnovers in the game. Those turnovers, in particular, ended up being a major turning point in the win. 60 points was Boston College’s lowest point total in a game since a November 8th loss to VCU.

For Shrewsberry, his Notre Dame team has played poorer on defense than expected, especially considering how much of last year’s team was retained. However, he does believe improved effort can be a difference maker moving forward for the Irish.

“What’s the difference between last year’s group and this year’s group when you’ve got a lot of the same people out there? I challenged them to play harder defensively and I thought they did it,” Shrewsberry concluded.

In the four ACC games that Notre Dame had lost in a row before beating Boston College, the Irish were giving up an average of 78 points per game. On top of that, the last time they held an opponent to 60 or fewer points in a game was against Stonehill on November 6th.

Notre Dame will next be in action on Saturday, January 18th against Syracuse. It’s a game that Shrewsberry will hope to get a similar defensive effort in. The last time the two played this season, Notre Dame held Syracuse to 64 points in a winning effort.