Preview: Pitt Prepares to Fight the Irish

The Pitt Panthers are getting ready for a conference battle with Notre Dame.

Feb 18, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers forward Zack Austin (55) dribbles against Syracuse Orange forward Petar Majstorovic (6) during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers look to have their longest winning streak since their five-game winning streak that ended with an embarrassing loss to Duke.

Pitt is currently on their second two-game winning streak in the past month as they beat Syracuseand North Carolina in consecutive games in late January. Pitt looks to make it three in a row against Notre Dame as they beat Miami and Syracuse in their past two games. 

Miami and Syracuse sit at the bottom of the ACC standings at No. 18 and No. 15, respectively, with the latter representing the final spot that would qualify for the conference tournament in the second week of March. 

Notre Dame isn’t much better, sitting at No. 14 in the ACC with a 5-10 record in the ACC — a half-game above 5-11 Syracuse. But, despite the porous conference record, the NET rankings favor Notre Dame, giving Pitt a chance to earn its fourth Quad Two victory of the season in South Bend, Ind.

Players to Watch 

Sophomore guard Markus Burton is the undisputed star of the Fighting Irish. He was on the preseason All-ACC First Team, on the watchlist for the Bob Cousy Award, which is awarded to the best point guard in men’s college basketball, and on the watchlist for the Naismith Player of the Year Award, which is given to the best player in the country.

Burton has backed up those preseason expectations, as he leads the ACC in points per game with 20.3 points per game on 44% shooting from the field. He also is pretty efficient from beyond the arc, shooting at a 37% clip.

But Burton's last game was the worst of his collegiate career, scoring two points, his lowest total in a collegiate game that he didn’t sustain an injury in. In his 23 minutes of action against SMU, he didn’t grab a single rebound despite averaging 3.4 before the game, and turned the ball over four times compared to his three assists.

The Panthers making Burton struggle as he did against the Mustangs would give them the opportunity to have the same result the Mustangs had against the Fighting Irish — a dominating win in South Bend. 

Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s son, sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry, is Notre Dame’s second-best guard, averaging 14 points per game. 

Shrewsberry’s best attribute is his shooting from three-point range. The overwhelming majority of his shots are from deep — 72.7%. But he doesn’t shoot threes to the detriment of the team, he’s shooting 36.9% from three this season. 

Against SMU, Shrewsberry was one of the few Notre Dame players to step up against the team from Dallas. He scored 21 points and shot 5-for-8 from deep.

Junior forward Tae Davis is the only other Fighting Irish starter that had an admirable game against the Mustangs, and he is the best player in the frontcourt for Notre Dame. 

Davis averages 15.6 points per game on a 49.3% field goal percentage and grabs 5.5 rebounds per game. He is unlike Shrewsberry in his offensive game, as 87% of his shots are two-pointers. 

Junior forward Kebba Njie is Notre Dame’s second-best player from their frontcourt and Pitt’s biggest worry when rebounding. He leads Notre Dame on the boards, tallying 6.2 per game and averaging the same amount of points per game. 

The Panthers succeeded in their battle with the Orange’s fierce center in graduate student Eddie Lampkin Jr., only allowing him to grab six rebounds earlier this week, and hope to have the same efficiency against Njie.

What the Stats Tell Us

Notre Dame loves a shooting contest. It isn’t a top 50% team in many categories in the ACC, but they are No. 5 in three-point field goal percentage at 36.2%, and are No. 4 in opponent field goal percentage at 32.1%. 

The Fighting Irish defend well from beyond the arc and shoot well from that distance. If the Panthers want to keep this winning streak going, they must run them off the three-point line and continually penetrate their defense.

Pitt should feel confident driving against Notre Dame because it does not protect the rim nearly as well as they do. Notre Dame ranks last in the ACC in blocks per game with 1.65. 

To put this in perspective, the Panthers’ redshirt senior forward Zack Austin averages more blocks per game —1.77— than the entire Fighting Irish roster. Austin has tallied 46 blocks this season by himself and the Fighting Irish as a team have mustered up 43. 

Pitt as a collective averages 4.62 blocks per game, almost three blocks more than Notre Dame per game. 

How to Watch: Pitt at Notre Dame

Pitt at Notre Dame will tip off at 2:15 p.m. on Feb. 22 at Purcell Pavilion. The game will be live on The CW.

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