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Instant Rewind: Notre Dame Vs. Stephen F. Austin

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Irish are headed to their second consecutive Sweet 16.

Freshman guard Rex Pflueger grabbed an offensive rebound and made the putback with 1.5 seconds to play to earn the Irish a 76-75 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Sunday afternoon at The Barclays Center.

Below is an instant recap of the game in reverse chronological order.

V.J. Beachem finished with 15 points in Notre Dame’s 76-75 win over Stephen F. Austin.
V.J. Beachem finished with 15 points in Notre Dame’s 76-75 win over Stephen F. Austin. (Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports)
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FINAL | Notre Dame 76, Stephen F. Austin 75. Jackson missed a layup with six seconds to play, Auguste missed the putback with three seconds to play, but Pflueger gets a putback with 1.5 seconds to play.

A Stephen F. Austin halfcourt heave falls short.

0:46.5 2H | Stephen F. Austin 75, Notre Dame 74. Jackson is fouled on a drive to the basket, making both free throws.

1:03 2H | Stephen F. Austin 75, Notre Dame 72. The Irish do get the stop. Brey calls a 60-second timeout.

1:35 2H | Stephen F. Austin 75, Notre Dame 72. A Jackson bucket keeps Irish within three.

Notre Dame in desperate need of a stop on this next possession.

2:30 2H | Stephen F. Austin 73, Notre Dame 70. Colson turns it over. Lumberjacks ahead by three with possession.

3:30 2H | Stephen F. Austin 73, Notre Dame 70. Walkup gets a layup, then assists a three from the right wing to give the Lumberjacks a three-point lead.

6:46 2H | Stephen F. Austin 66, Notre Dame 64. The Lumberjacks retake the lead on a pair of Walkup free throws. He’s got 17 today.

7:10 2H | Notre Dame 64, Stephen F. Austin 64. Auguste responds with another bucket, but another Lumberjacks three ties the game.

This one could go down to the wire.

7:58 2H | Notre Dame 62, Stephen F. Austin 61. A huge three-pointer for the Lumberjacks pulls SFA within just one.

9:34 2H | Notre Dame 60, Stephen F. Austin 55. Auguste is having a monster day, 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting and 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards.

11:35 2H | Notre Dame 56, Stephen F. Austin 53. The Irish holding on to their lead, but just barely, and are unable to create any separation.

The Lumberjacks are still getting to the glass hard, with 13 offensive rebounds in 29 opportunities at this stage. And they’ve only cooled off a tad on twos, now 17 of 29 (58.6 percent).

16:01 2H | Notre Dame 52, Stephen F. Austin 47. Whoa. Demetrius Jackson throws down an electric dunk at the rim that leaves the crowd buzzing.

17:53 2H | Notre Dame 47, Stephen F. Austin 43. Lumberjacks star Thomas Walkup picks up his third foul, prompting Stephen F. Austin head coach Brad Underwood to inform the ref “that was the worst call of the tournament.”

Halftime | Notre Dame 42, Stephen F. Austin 41. It’s only fitting that a Beachem three at the buzzer puts the Irish up one at the half.

Positives for Notre Dame: Only four turnovers, have made 5 of 11 threes and 15 of 27 field goals overall, and 7 of 8 free throws. Most of the team is shooting well outside of Vasturia (just 2 of 8).

Negatives for Notre Dame: The Lumberjacks are 12 of 16 (75.0 percent) on twos, and the Irish have given up eight offensive rebounds in 16 opportunities (Notre Dame grabbed eight defensive rebounds).

Really quality first half that feels like it could go either way in the second.

1:16 1H | Stephen F. Austin 39, Notre Dame 37. Welp, right on cue — given the way Notre Dame has ended halves lately — the Lumberjacks respond with a 7-0 run with less than two minutes left in the period to retake the lead.

2:20 1H | Notre Dame 36, Stephen F. Austin 32. The Irish are on a smooth 9-0 run after a bucket and free throw from Colson.

3:09 1H | Notre Dame 33, Stephen F. Austin 32. Freshman forward Matt Ryan makes an extra pass from the left wing to Beachem in the left corner, who nails a three and was fouled.

So far, so good for Notre Dame in the turnovers department. Just three so far today.

This game is tight, though, because of the Lumberjacks have made almost every two-point attempt today.

6:58 1H | Stephen F. Austin 27, Notre Dame 23. As we thought, Notre Dame has a serious fight on their hands today — the Lumberjacks are on their game. They’ve nailed 8 of 10 two-point attempts thus far.

10:54 1H | Stephen F. Austin 18, Notre Dame 16. The Irish led 16-11 before a quick 7-0 run for the Lumberjacks in just 40 seconds. Walkup will shoot free throws out of a timeout to try and extend the run.

14:55 1H | Notre Dame 7, Stephen F. Austin 7. Vasturia has already missed a couple looks that should be easy for him. The Irish could really use him getting back on track.

15:00 1H | Notre Dame 7, Stephen F. Austin 7. BREAKING: Beachem misses a shot.

17:25 1H | Notre Dame 7, Stephen F. Austin 4. Beachem nails two early buckets and has now made all nine of his last nine shot attempts, dating back to Friday’s opening round game.

2:48 p.m. ET: We are underway in Brooklyn.

2:31 p.m. ET: Sophomore guard Matt Farrell receives the starting nod again for the Irish, along with Demetrius Jackson, Steve Vasturia, V.J. Beachem and Zach Auguste. Farrell picked up his first career start in Notre Dame’s 70-63 win over Michigan on Friday, finishing with five points and four assists.

2:17 p.m. ET: Villanova just finished an 87-68 destruction of Iowa to advance to the Sweet 16. Looks like the Irish and Lumberjacks will tip at 2:48 p.m. ET.

Box Score: LINK.

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