By PAUL GOTHAM
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Zach Auguste and Demetrius Jackson combined to hit just two of 12 first-half shots, yet the Notre Dame Fighting Irish still had a chance to win Friday night’s regional semi-final. That the sixth-seeded Irish could remotely consider victory with their leading scorers struggling to such a degree is further testimonial to a team that has figured out how to win.
One week after needing a double-digit second-half rally to beat a sleep-deprived Michigan team followed by a last second tip in from a player on the wrong side of an offensive-defensive platoon, this Irish squad has a chance to do what no other ND team has done in the last three-plus decades.
The possibility of which seemed remote at best over the past three months.
Notre Dame saved its lone full press until the waning seconds of Friday’s Sweet Sixteen matchup. Jackson’s steal and layup as a result with :13 remaining gave ND a 57-56 edge and proved to be the game winner.
“We’re not a team that presses a lot,” coach Mike Brey said. “But when we’re behind in a game situation, we get a big on the ball, and we want to trap the first pass. What I told them was, I said, ‘we don’t need to foul. We have a foul to give anyways. Let’s get an aggressive trap. If they get it out of the trap, then we’ve got to foul. And then be in position to foul again to get them to the line.’ And I thought we did a great job of being aggressive and having some crafty hands right there.”
Jackson said prior to the tournament that this Notre Dame has learned to finish, and the junior point guard proved it scoring six of his 16 points in the final :19 seconds as the Irish outscored Wisconsin 8-0 in the game’s final moments.
“We just did a great job sticking with it,” Jackson said. “We did a great job giving ourselves a chance to win. We had a lot of mistakes in the game,but we kept fighting. We took our punches and we just kind of got back up, kept fighting, kept believing, kept communicating and we just made it happen.”
Those punches took the shape of a nine-point Wisconsin lead late in the first half. The Irish slowly battled back to take leads at 38-37 with 8:50 remaining and 42-41 with 5:46 to go. Only to have the Badgers take a five-point advantage at 51-46 with 3:06 left on the clock.
From there the Irish, who had hit just 18 of 44 shots including just 7 of 29 in the first half, connected on four of six to end the game.
“We were laughing,” coach Mike Brey commented. “I said, ‘gosh, we can’t play any worse.’ Guys were kind of laughing, and I said we’ll play better. I said we’ve always been great in second halves. Down the stretch from 12 min — I said, ‘fellas, they’re going to feel us coming. We’re coming.’
“That’s what we’ve done all year, not only in this tournament. We’re going to get this to a game situation. Keep plugging.”
Notre Dame’s defense, often overlooked and maligned (sometimes unjustifiably) kept the game within reach. The Irish held Wisconsin seven points under their season average limiting the Badgers, a team which shoots 42.6 percent from the floor, to 23-of-57 (40.4 percent) for the game including 6 of 20 (30 percent) from behind the arc – the Badgers usually hit 35 percent from long range. More importantly, ND forced 17 turnovers from a team averaging 10.9 a game and converted those opportunities into 16-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
“I thought Steve (Vasturia) and Demetrius did a great job of staying poised,” Brey noted. “They weren’t making shots. They weren’t in the greatest of rhythm, but they still defended and did tough stuff. Then all of a sudden they all had a big impact.”
Matt Farrell delivered when Notre Dame needed him most. A late-season lineup insertion, Brey put the sophomore guard into the starting rotation to decrease Jackson’s ballhandling responsibilities. Farrell scored all seven of his points in the first half to lead Irish going into the locker room. His 3-pointer at the 3:36 mark snapped a 7-0 UW run. He handed out four assists in the second half including a pick-and-roll lob with Auguste for a dunk to knot the score at 51 with 2:08 remaining.
The game was supposed to be a homecoming for Vasturia. The junior came in averaging more than 11 points a game. He finished with two points on 1-of-6 shooting.
Five days earlier, the Irish outscored S.F. Austin 6-0 over the final two minutes of a second round match. Defensive replacement, Rex Pflueger, scored his only bucket of the game on a tip in with 1.5 seconds remaining. Michigan advanced out the first four to meet ND in the opening round. The Wolverines arrived in Brooklyn at 4:30 a.m. the day before their game with the Irish. Less than 40 hours later, Michigan took a 12-point lead into the locker at half before Notre Dame rallied for a 70-63 victory.
“On Monday I told our group, I saw us showing us up as the 16th-rated team of the 16 teams left,” Brey stated. “But I thought we were the toughest team, the No. 1 team in toughness. And I think it’s played itself out again in a third game.
“We have a great belief. We have a heck of a group. And maybe there’s some destiny involved in this thing.”
The Irish will play in back-to-back regional finals for the first time since 1978-79. That was at the end of a run where Digger Phelps led ND to at least the regional semi-final in six straight seasons. Notre Dame lost to Duke in the 1978 National semi-final.
“I’m proud that our group got back to this point,” Brey said. “We were there last year and played one of the great games in the history of the NCAA Tournament against Kentucky. And we’re back in it again. We have another opportunity to go to a Final Four.
“I’m very proud of this group because last year’s team had no pressure. We were coming off of a 15-17 year. This team had expectations from day one, and to get us back and deliver with expectations, I’m really proud of them and I’m extremely proud of the leadership of those guys that just left us.”
So Notre Dame walks arm in arm with destiny and will meet Atlantic Coast Conference rival, North Carolina Sunday night. The pair split games this season with No. 1-seed Tar Heels taking the most recent game a 78-47 drubbing in the ACC semi-finals. An 8:49 p.m. tip off is scheduled.
Leave a Reply