Notre Dame men's basketball may have made money for its players with the NIL-infused Players Era Festival, but the Irish left Las Vegas with three losses and an injury to star guard Markus Burton.
The last of Notre Dame's three losses came Saturday to Creighton in the seventh-place game of the event. Meaning the Irish finished last of the eight teams following a 80-76 loss to the Bluejays.
Notre Dame nearly pulled off a comeback against No. 21 Creighton (5-3) after trailing by 17 points with 8:17 remaining in the first half. The Irish took a one-point lead on a Braeden Shrewsberry 3-pointer with 10:19 left in the second half, but that lead was short-lived. Creighton responded with a 11-0 run to put Notre Dame back into chase mode.
Notre Dame cut Creighton's lead down to 3 with 24 seconds left, but the Bluejays were clutch with their free throws.
Shrewsberry and Tae Davis led Notre Dame with 17 points each. Davis also had five assists and two rebounds. Shrewsberry had four rebounds and one assist.
Next up for Notre Dame (4-4) is an ACC/SEC Challenge game at Georgia (7-1) on Tuesday (7 p.m. EST on ESPNU).
BOX SCORE: Creighton 80, Notre Dame 76
Creighton's Jamiya Neal blocks Notre Dame's Tae Davis. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
The last of Notre Dame's three losses came Saturday to Creighton in the seventh-place game of the event. Meaning the Irish finished last of the eight teams following a 80-76 loss to the Bluejays.
Notre Dame nearly pulled off a comeback against No. 21 Creighton (5-3) after trailing by 17 points with 8:17 remaining in the first half. The Irish took a one-point lead on a Braeden Shrewsberry 3-pointer with 10:19 left in the second half, but that lead was short-lived. Creighton responded with a 11-0 run to put Notre Dame back into chase mode.
Notre Dame cut Creighton's lead down to 3 with 24 seconds left, but the Bluejays were clutch with their free throws.
Shrewsberry and Tae Davis led Notre Dame with 17 points each. Davis also had five assists and two rebounds. Shrewsberry had four rebounds and one assist.
Next up for Notre Dame (4-4) is an ACC/SEC Challenge game at Georgia (7-1) on Tuesday (7 p.m. EST on ESPNU).
BOX SCORE: Creighton 80, Notre Dame 76
Creighton's Jamiya Neal blocks Notre Dame's Tae Davis. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
