Notre Dame edges Rutgers in double-overtime in First Four thriller
Forty minutes gets you 40 minutes.
And sometimes even a little more.
In a Big Ten/ACC battle, 11th-seeded Notre Dame defeated 11th-seeded Rutgers in double-overtime, 89-87, in a First Four game of the NCAA Tournament on late Wednesday night inside UD Arena in Dayton, OH.
Paul Atkinson Jr. made a layup off of an offensive rebound with less than two seconds to go.
With the win, the Fighting Irish move on to play sixth-seeded Alabama in first round in the West Region on Friday afternoon.
To start the game, both teams went without much defense as at the under-16 timeout, which occurred at the 11:57 mark, Rutgers was shooting 64% (7-for-11) and Notre Dame was at 73% (8-for-11). Both teams were running up and down floor making shot after shot, close or long. Caleb McConnell had 10 of Rutgers' initial 21 points of the night. At 9:35, he was 4-of-5 from the floor with a 3-pointer and a free throw.
After the timeout Atkinson Jr. went to work had posted up for the bucket plus the foul. He missed the free throw, and as Notre Dame went to zone, McConnell hit another mid-range attempt for his 12th point of the night, but Blake Wesley drove to the hoop for a layup for the Irish.
Ron Harper Jr. got in close and muscled his way for a layup, but the back and forth continued again with a score on the other side by Nate Laszewski courtesy of a goaltending call.
Coming out of the under-8 stoppage, McConnell soared for an offensive rebound and made the second-chance layup. Off the bench, Aundre Hyatt skied high for a block that went into the press area.
A missed jump shot led to a Harper Jr. 3-pointer in transition off a feed from Paul Mulcahy. Another layup by Atkinson Jr. tied the game up at 30-30, but Rutgers went on a 6-0 run prompting a timeout by the Irish at 4:09. McConnell added another two points in the paint, Harper Jr. attacked the basket and hit the ball off glass and in, and Mulcahy notched a fadeway bucket.
Laszewski scored on a jumper in the paint and was fouled to end the Scarlet Knights mini run that got the Rutgers crowd up off its feet. Atkinson used a screen to get another two points in the paint and just like that it was 36-34. Notre Dame's zone formed Rutgers into a pair of missed 3-pointers in back-to-back possessions.
Atkinson gave the ball to the Scarlet Knights after a travel, and Geo Baker nailed a 3-pointer, his second of the contest at that point, to give Rutgers a 39-34 advantage. Atkinson missed a layup, but then saved the ball from going out of bounds. He found himself wide open after he passed it back out for a layup.
Harper Jr. missed a trailing 3-pointer form the top of the key, and then Mulcahy grabbed a defensive board and McConnell sprinted up the court for a layup as the halftime buzzer went off. No foul was called as he went to the hardwood.
Notre Dame was shooting 55% at the break (17-for-31) while Rutgers was shooting 58% (18-for-31).
Harper Jr. got Rutgers going in the second half with a triple to push the scarlet and white up by eight. But the Irish climbed back with a 6-0 run to make it 44-42. Cliff Omoruyi slammed down his second alley-oop of the game to make it 46-42, and McConnell kept his stellar night with a jumper inside the paint.
Cormac Ryan and Dane Goodwin drained 3-pointers, Notre Dame's bread and butter, to cut into Rutgers deficit at 51-50. Ryan tied the game with a tough layup, and then Wesley gave Notre Dame a 55-53 lead with 9:59 to go.
Mulcahy drained an open 3-popinter to put Rutgers back on top by one before Laszewski made another triple for the Irish.
Omoruyi, after a scramble, sent home a slam dunk. Ryan notched a lucky fall-away jumper and then Goodwin had a layup plus the foul stemming from a Rutgers turnover by Mulcahy. That gave the Irish a 63-58 lead with 6:08 remaining.
Omoruyi ended Notre Dame's 5-0 spurt with a dunk. Baker had nearly turned the ball over. Wesley missed both foul shots on the other end, and then Baker knocked-down a foul-line jumper to make it 63-62 at 4:06.
Laszewski made two free throws, Baker quickly got to the hoop for layup, and Atkinson, who enjoyed a lengthy rest on the bench, came in and made a layup.
Baker, like he's done so much in his career, sank a contest 3-pointer to knot the game up at 67-67. On the ensuing possession, Laszewski pulled down an offensive board, and laid in the ball for two points.
Baker, after a Notre Dame timeout, again hit a pull-up jump shot to tie the game at 69-69. Omoruyi blocked a Wesley shot attempt, but Baker missed a 3-pointer. The Irish grabbed the defensive rebound and called a timeout with 59.7 seconds left.
Prentiss Hubb saw his shot altered and Harper Jr. 3-pointer went off the front of the rim. Mulcahy grabbed a tough rebound in the paint and passed it back out to Baker, who let the clock run down. His signature step-back jump shot from the left side was on line, but it just was just short.
Laszewski made a free throw for the extra period's first points before Omoruyi slammed in a one-handed alley-oop to give Rutgers a slight 71-70 lead. McConnell stopped a drive attempt by Wesley. After a Scarlet Knights timeout, Baker hit a turnaround jumper as the shot clock expired before Goodwin made a 3-pointer to tie it up at 73-73.
Harper Jr. was called for a charge on the next trip down the court, and then Laszewski used a screen to get an easy layup inside.
Baker missed the front end of an 1-and-1, but fought for the offensive board. Harper Jr., at 11:45 p.m. said the bank was open as he used the glass to make a deep 3-pointer with 49 seconds to go in overtime to give Rutgers a 76-75 lead.
The Scarlet Knights got a stop defensively, but Mulcahy turned the ball over on inbounds, and Notre Dame benefitted with a layup with 25 ticks remaining.
Mulcahy made up for the blunder by netting an uncharacteristic 3-pointer on a play that was called for him with eight seconds to go. Rutgers got the stop defensively, and Harper Jr. put up a half court heave that was just strong.
Omoruyi flushed yet another dunk in double-overtime, and then Hubb ran past Mulcahy for a layup. Atkinson had a second-chance dunk, and then McConnell hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 84-83 Rutgers. Back the other way, Atkinson made a layup to give the Irish an 85-84 lead.
A couple of misses by Rutgers eventually ended up in the hands of Hubb, who sunk both of his free throws to push it to 87-84 with 40.9 seconds remaining.
With no panic, Harper Jr. made a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left.
Atkinson grabbed an offensive board off of a Wesley miss and scored the game-winning basket.
The clock ran out before Rutgers could get up a shot.
Notre Dame will play Alabama on Friday at Viejas Arena in San Diego, CA. on Friday at 4:15 p.m. ET (1:15 p.m. PT).
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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