Cole Certa drained a pair of clutch 3-pointers on assists from Markus Burton in the final two minutes as Notre Dame edged Missouri 76-71 in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Tuesday night at South Bend, Ind.
Burton found Certa for the go-ahead left-wing 3-pointer that gave Notre Dame (6-3) the lead for good at 72-69 with 17 seconds remaining. Certa made a corner 3-pointer on a pass from Burton to tie the game at 67 with 1:35 to go.
Burton finished with 18 points and a career-high 10 assists. Certa tallied 14 points with four 3-pointers on his seven attempts.
Mark Mitchell had a game-high 26 points, sinking 9 of 11 free throws and his first 3-pointer of the season for Missouri (8-1). Jacob Crews had 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc in the loss.
Burton and Crews each converted a pair of free throws, leaving the score tied 69-69 with 44 seconds left.
The teams exchanged 11-0 runs midway through the second half. Notre Dame capped its surge on a Burton layup to go ahead 53-46 with 12:04 to go. Missouri responded with its own burst, finished off on a 3-pointer by Crews to retake the lead at 57-53 with 8:28 left.
Notre Dame also completed a 10-0 run spanning the halves. The first five points of the second period came on a layup and three free throws by Jalen Haralson, getting the Fighting Irish within 40-38. The hosts took a 48-46 lead on a 3-pointer by Braeden Shrewsberry off a pass from Burton.
After trailing by as many as 12, Notre Dame trimmed its halftime deficit to 40-33. Shrewsberry made a 3-pointer on an assist from Carson Towt with 32 seconds to go, and Burton then had a steal and layup to close the scoring before the break.
Crews scored 14 in the first half while Mitchell had 13. Burton topped Notre Dame with seven points in the first 20 minutes.
Free-throw shooting made a major difference. Notre Dame finished the game 15-for-18, while Missouri missed eight of its 25 attempts.
