Markus Burton injury update: Latest on Notre Dame men's basketball star

Notre Dame sophomore point guard Markus Burton still has no exact timeline for his return, head men’s basketball coach Micah Shrewsberry said after the Irish beat Le Moyne 91-62 on Sunday. But he’s getting better.

Burton has not played since suffering a right knee injury early in Notre Dame’s loss to Rutgers on Nov. 26 at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Shrewsberry later clarified that the rising star from Mishawaka, Ind. damaged his MCL but did not require surgery.

The Irish (7-5, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) have gone 3-4 in Burton’s absence, and they have six more days off before a matchup with Georgia Tech at 2:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 31 in Atlanta.

“I think every week that goes by, every calendar that goes by, he’s getting better, but there’s still no exact timeline,” Shrewsberry said. “Like I said, we’re gonna err on the side of caution with him, but he’s doing good stuff.”

Burton was wearing a large, immobilizing brace before Notre Dame’s win over Dartmouth on Dec. 11. He was not wearing a brace on Sunday night.

Before the win over Le Moyne, he putting close-range shots up at the left end of the court (from the press box’s vantage point) while his teammates stretched on the right end. At halftime, he did some light dribbling and moving around. Burton still seemed to be walking with a slight limp, but these are all positive developments.

Notre Dame’s leading scorer was reportedly ruled out for “several weeks” the day after he suffered the injury, despite fears he would be lost for the season.

“You can see progress,” Shrewsberry said. “You can see progress on a daily basis. I know one thing: I know he’s tired of not playing. If you would ask him, he probably would’ve played tonight, but it’s not up to him. But he is making progress.”

Through four games of his sophomore season (not including his three-minute outing against Rutgers) Burton averaged 21.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He had also improved his efficiency, shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 34.6 percent from three-point range and 84.2 percent from the free-throw line.

His offensive output led the Irish by nearly 7 points per game over the next-highest scorer, fellow sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry.

Another positive development: Freshman guard Sir Mohammed — who is recovering from knee surgery — participated in early warmups before Notre Dame beat Le Moyne, according to South Bend Tribune reporter Tom Noie. He put on street clothes for the final round of warmups and, of course, did not play.

Mohammed has been out indefinitely since the Irish beat Buffalo on Nov. 11 in the second game of their season. He averaged 2.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 13 minutes per game.