We no longer have a double-digit seed in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament, but oh Lord, was the last quarterfinal game exciting. There’s nothing more exciting than a Cinderella team giving a superior team all it can handle. In the end, the third-seeded 2007-08 Irish barely defeated the 14th-seeded 2013-14 Irish, 87-86, with a buzzer beater.
The ’13-14 Irish led by as much as 10 in the first half before the ’07-08 Irish bounced back and took a one-point halftime lead on a Luke Zeller 3-pointer at the buzzer. With just under seven minutes left in regulation, the ’07-08 Irish had built that lead up to 11, but a 15-3 run by the ’13-14 Irish put them up one with two-and-a-half minutes to go. They briefly lost the lead before going up four. A Kyle McAlarney 3 cut the lead to 82-81 going into the final minute.
Pat Connaughton got to the free-throw line with 18 seconds left and made two shots to give the ’13-14 Irish an 84-81 lead. Rob Kurz quickly tied it at 84 with a 3-pointer five seconds later. Connaughton put his team up two with an open fadeaway jumper with two seconds left. That was just enough time for Ryan Ayers to hit his only field goal of the game: a buzzer-beating 3 to send the ’07-08 Irish to the semifinals.
McAlarney led the ’07-08 Irish with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, and four steals. Kurz was just behind with 20 points while shooting 6 of 12 from the field and making all five of his free throws. Luke Harangody did his part with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Eric Atkins had 19 points, seven rebounds and a game-high eight assists for the ’13-14 Irish. Jerian Grant came off the bench and scored 18 on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Connaughton scored 14, and Demetrius Jackson and Zach Auguste had 10 apiece.
