This one went as expected in the early hours of Thanksgiving morning for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team.

Playing without leading scorer Markus Burton, who is out for the next “several weeks” with a right knee injury, playing his second game in less than 24 hours after a crushing overtime loss at the start of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas and against one Playing from them The nation’s stingiest defensive teams in No. 7 Houston were too much for the Irish to digest.

Noie:A late night, a serious injury and a near miss for Notre Dame men’s basketball in Las Vegas

Notre Dame returned to its defense first, a style of play often seen in the mud last season. It had chances to make things interesting down the stretch but, like last season, couldn’t do enough and score enough goals in the crucial minutes to put the finishing touches on.