Slap the Sign
Fansided

Notre Dame Basketball: Don’t You Burgett About Me!

By Chase Eyrich

Jan 31, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Austin Burgett (20) celebrates after scoring in the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 85-62. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 31, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Austin Burgett (20) celebrates after scoring in the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 85-62. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

A.J. Burgett received the call as a starter for Notre Dame against Wake Forest, and it might not be the last time.

Notre Dame defeated Wake Forest today 85-62 with help from an unfamiliar starter A.J. Burgett. Now if you have been following the Irish for a while now, you know who Burgett is, but we haven’t seen much from the senior this season. In fact before today he only had 11 points on the season.

Seeming almost out of the blue that Burgett would get this start today, a string of events lead to possibly finding a golden line up. Freshman guard Rex Pflueger tweaked his ankle, keeping him limited during the last two practices. Mike Brey has obviously been working with different players throwing them into the line up to see what clicks best. We’ve seen this with the extra minutes coming from Matt Ryan, Rex Pflueger, and Matt Farrell. The time Brey has seen these guys in practice and maybe even rating maturity, Burgett got the call.

As soon as the ball was tipped Burgett quickly found himself on the stat sheet. Within the first two minutes of the game, Burgett had already pulled down two boards and knocked down a three pointer. The 6’9″ Forward seems to be the right fit for this line up as long as he continues to hit threes. Hitting his threes along with grabbing boards could be the productivity that the Irish need to get past the rest of this week.

Jan 31, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Austin Burgett (20) shoots a three point basket in the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 85-62. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 31, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Austin Burgett (20) shoots a three point basket in the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame won 85-62. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

Coming up for the Irish are #15 Miami and #2 North Carolina. Two very tough teams in the ACC. Sitting at 6-3 in the conference Notre Dame can not afford to drop both games. Cracking into the top 25 last week and become more comfortable in tournament talks, the Irish have to start hitting the right stride.