Ahead of a four-game murderer’s row of a schedule, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish had one more warmup game. Unfortunately, Micah Shrewsberry’s squad looks like it could use a bit more prep.
For the second game in a row, Shrewsberry came into his post-game press conference hot under the collar about his team’s effort level. Last time, it was on offense. On Friday night it was about the defense. A defense that failed spectacularly in an 84-77 loss at home, to Elon.
“We didn’t start the game very good defensively and they got comfortable,” The Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach said. “They were comfortable coming in here because of the way they played the other night (75-48 win over Northern Illinois on Wednesday).You need to try to break their rhythm early and they had, what, 15 points before the four-minute mark (actually seven-minute mark)? Our defense let us down tonight.”
Notre Dame Fighting Irish lets up and falls down
It doesn’t help that the Blue and Gold were going up against a coach who was highly motivated to win. Not just because Elon coach Billy Taylor wants to get his team a win, but because he is a former player and captain for Notre Dame.
His two-loss Phoenix showed some sparks before getting to South Bend. Elon held a brief lead in the second half against North Carolina in the first game of the season (a 14-point loss) and had its chances in a one-point loss to Gardner-Webb.
“Our guys are hungry,” Taylor said. “They obviously believe that we’re a really good ballclub and now it’s up to us to continue to challenge them, to take steps to improve because we’re going to get our opponents best after some of the things we’ve accomplished so far this season.”
“Obviously, I believe in Notre Dame through and through,” he said. “I root for his (Shrewsberry) team and watch all their games. So to be able to come in here and win in front of family and friends — I’m just incredibly proud.”
Meanwhile, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were supposed to be 5-0 heading into a stretch where they play No. 24 Rutgers, No. 7 Houston, Georgia and Syracuse. They don’t look ready yet. Shrewsberry has about three days to change that.