WASHINGTON (AP) -- Freshmen Braeden Shrewsberry and Markus Burton combined for 44 points as 12th-seeded Notre Dame opened the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament with its third straight nail-biting win over 13th-seeded Georgia Tech 84-80 on Tuesday.
Shrewsberry had 23 points with five 3-pointers and Burton added 21 with eight assists as the Fighting Irish (13-19) advanced to face fifth-seeded Wake Forest despite blowing a 17-point lead in the final 13 minutes.
Tae Davis added 12 points and Kebba Njie had 11 with nine rebounds for Notre Dame, which beat the Yellow Jackets 58-55 at home and 75-68 in overtime on the road during the regular season.
The Irish were down one when Burton blew past a defender for a fast-break layup and an 81-80 lead with 1:16 to play.
Georgia Tech turned the ball over but then forced Burton into a miss on a tough layup with 26 seconds to play. However, Njie snared an offensive rebound, which led to free throws for Davis with 24.9 seconds to go. Davis made both free throws but the second was waved off by a line violation, giving the Yellow Jackets a chance, down 82-80.
Davis got his hand on a pass, forcing a turnover and Shrewsberry iced the win with two free throws with five seconds left.
Naithan George had five 3s and scored 24 points with seven assists for Georgia Tech (14-18). Baye Ndongo had 22 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Sturdivant added 10 points.
Notre Dame was 12-of-23 from 3-point range and shot 54 percent overall (28-of-52). Georgia Tech had eight 3s on 27 attempts and shot 47% overall (27-of-57).
Notre Dame led by 10 at halftime and quickly got it to 14 following a dunk by Carey Booth and a 3-pointer from Matt Zona made it 65-48 with 12:59 to go. Njie had the Irish on top 70-59 midway through the second half.
Georgia Tech reeled off eight straight points, with George converting a four-point play to cut the deficit to 70-67. Dallan Coleman hit a 3-pointer and George scored consecutive jumpers and the Yellow Jackets led 78-77, their first lead of the game.
Burton had 15 at halftime on 6-of-9 shooting with three 3's to help the Irish, who shot 62 percent, take a 45-35 lead.
Burton had a 3-pointer, followed by two jumpers before Shrewsberry's 3 made it 17-5. George had a layup and a 3 to get the Yellow Jackets back within 24-18 midway through. The lead reached 14 before six free throws in the final 1 1/2 minutes helped cut it back to 10.
Of Note
- Notre Dame has won 10 of the last 12 meetings and leads the all-time series against Georgia Tech, 18-13. The last five have been decided by seven points or fewer.
- Notre Dame moves to 2-0 all-time in the ACC Tournament against Georgia Tech, winning the lone previous meeting 78-71 in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2019.
- The Fighting Irish are now 12-8 all-time in the ACC Tournament. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry moves to 6-2 in league tournament action as a head coach.
- Notre Dame moves to 2-1 this season during neutral site contests after defeating Oklahoma State 66-64 in overtime in Brooklyn, New York, on November 17.
- After scoring 23 points during Tuesday's game, Braeden Shrewsberry led the Irish in scoring for the fourth time this season. It marked the 17th time this season in which Shrewsberry has scored in double-figures.
- Notre Dame (13-19, 7-13 ACC) will move on to play fifth-seed Wake Forest (19-12, 11-9 ACC) at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday on ESPN. The Fighting Irish won the regular season meeting 70-65 in South Bend, Indiana.