The top four seeds have been waiting around for a bit to get going in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament. The time to do so finally has arrived. The top-seeded 2014-15 Irish got the quarterfinals going with a come-from-behind 92-83 victory over the eighth-seeded 2009-10 Irish.
The ’09-10 Irish were in front for most of the first half, doing so by as many as eight points with two minutes left before settling on a six-point halftime lead. Midway through the second half, they still led by five, but the ’14-15 Irish went on a 7-0 run to take a two-point lead. The teams battled closely for a little longer until the game was tied at 74 with five minutes to go. V.J. Beachem then scored nine unanswered points on back-to-back 3-pointers and a three-point play, and the ’09-10 Irish never got closer than four points after that.
Jerian Grant was efficient and unselfish in leading the ’14-15 Irish with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 3 for 3 from 3-point range, as well as a game-high seven assists. Pat Connaughton scored 17 points and had a game-high four blocks. Thanks to his late charge, Beachem ended with 12 points in nine minutes played. Zach Auguste scored 11 and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
The ’09-10 Irish played only seven players, and that almost was enough. Tim Abromaitis paced them with a game-high 26 points to go with seven rebounds. Tyrone Nash scored 19, and Ben Hansbrough added 11.
