Notre Dame will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season when it faces Bellarmine on Wednesday night in South Bend, Ind.
The Fighting Irish (3-1) hit the road Sunday for the first time this season and had Ohio State on the ropes before succumbing 64-63.
Notre Dame made just 1 for 7 shots from the field in the final 3 1/2 minutes and allowed a go-ahead layup by Christoph Tilly with 13 seconds remaining.
Markus Burton, Notre Dame’s All-ACC guard, had a team-high 14 points but shot just 3 for 14 from the field. Jalen Haralson, part of a heralded four-man freshman class, added 13 points for his second consecutive game in double figures after returning from an early-season concussion.
Micah Shrewsberry, now in his third season as the Fighting Irish head coach, told reporters after the loss to Ohio State that he believes his squad is pointed in the right direction.
“I told our team at the beginning of the year, I still am able to read a bunch of stuff early in the year, and everybody’s saying that’s an NCAA Tournament team right there, right? We came in here in front of 13,000, went toe-to-toe with them, so what’s that make us?”
The Fighting Irish will return to South Bend, where they have toppled three overmatched foes by an average of 24.7 points a game. Bellarmine will be hard-pressed not to be the fourth.
The Knights (1-3) are in just their sixth season in Division I after a standout run in Division II, which included four Final Fours and the 2011 national championship. The Louisville school has struggled with NIL and player transfers while going 13-49 the past two seasons.
Bellarmine lost 94-86 at home to Wofford on Saturday despite 23 points each from Jack Karasinski and Purdue transfer Brian Waddell. Karasinski led the team with an average of 15.4 points a game last season and is averaging a team-high 21.3 through three games this season.
New Bellarmine coach Doug Davenport, who succeeded his father, Scott, said believes in his long-term vision for the Knights.
“We’re trying to find the right guys that can thrive in how we do stuff, both character-wise and (in) basketball skill set,” Doug Davenport told the Lexington Herald-Leader before the season. “And I really do think we’ve done that.”