Late 8-0 Run Delivers Notre Dame To The Elite Eight

PHILADELPHIA — Time and again this year, Notre Dame has utilized a second-half comeback to secure a win.

The Irish trailed then-No. 2 North Carolina 39-30 at halftime Feb. 6 before eventually earning an 80-76 victory. That was a special one for Mike Brey’s program, with ESPN’s College GameDay in the house for the day.

Another memorable one was the ACC quarterfinals against Duke. Notre Dame trailed the Blue Devils by 16 with 10 minutes to play, before finishing regulation on a 22-6 run, forcing overtime and eventually pick up an 84-79 win.

There are numerous others, including versus Michigan and Stephen F. Austin in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

But this one on Friday night in the Wells Fargo Center was a comeback for the history books.

Trailing No. 7-seeded Wisconsin 53-51 with 1:04 to play, the Irish ripped off 10 points in the final minute — and an 8-0 run with less than 20 seconds to play — to secure a thrilling 61-56 victory and advance to the Elite Eight.

“It all happened so fast,” sophomore guard Matt Farrell said. “You can even ask, ‘What has happened the past two weekends?’

“We’re just finding ways to win. We hang around and make plays when we need to.”

It all started when Badgers junior forward Vitto Brown hit a three-pointer with 27 seconds to play to put Wisconsin ahead 56-53.

Instead of forcing a three-point response to try and tie, Irish junior guard Demetrius Jackson calmly brought the ball up the court and decisively drove to the rim, scoring a layup to cut the deficit to 56-55 with 19 seconds left.

Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey called a timeout and knew his team had a foul to give, so he instructed his squad to be a little aggressive on a trap after the inbounds.

It worked. Jackson came away with a steal from Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes, quickly driving for a layup to go ahead 57-56 with 13 seconds to play.

Wisconsin guard Bronson Koenig took the following inbounds the full length of the court, but missed his layup try with nine seconds to play.

Irish junior forward V.J. Beachem snagged the defensive rebound and was fouled, calmly sinking both free throws to give the Irish a three-point cushion.

On Wisconsin’s last chance to tie it, Jackson came down hard on Koenig near halfcourt to force another steal. Koenig had to instantly foul the Mishawaka, Ind., native, and after Jackson made both free throws, the Irish suddenly led by five with less than three seconds to go.

A full-court Wisconsin pass resulted in a turnover and the final margin.

“On Monday I told our group, I saw us showing us up as the 16th-rated team of the 16 teams left,” Irish head coach Mike Brey said. “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.”

It wasn’t just in the closing minute that the outcome initially looked bleak for the Irish. Notre Dame’s only lead in the first half was 5-4 before the initial media timeout, and thanks to 7-of-29 shooting (24.1 percent) and seven turnovers the Irish trailed Wisconsin 23-19 at halftime.

Notre Dame was earning quality looks in the first half, but they just weren’t falling.

“I laughed,” Brey said of what he told the team at halftime. “I said, ‘How bad are we playing?’ And we kind of laughed about it.

“I said, ‘We’ll all play better. Relax.’ And we did. That may be the worst half collectively — thank God we had Matt Farrell.”

The Irish did eventually start playing better in the second half. The initial problem was, though, so did the Badgers.

Each time Notre Dame landed a punch, Wisconsin answered with a counter.

The Badgers led 34-26 with 13:27 to play before a Jackson layup capped an 8-0 Irish run to tie it at 34-34.

Quickly, Wisconsin answered with a three to go back ahead 37-34.

The toughest Badgers punch came near the game’s last media timeout. Notre Dame tied it again at 44-44 with 4:17 remaining on a pair of Auguste free throws, but a three-pointer by Hayes, followed by a steal and layup put Wisconsin up 49-44 with 3:36 to play.

“That was a dagger,” Farrell said. “But like I said before, we kept making plays.

“We’re a confident group.”

Beachem continued his tremendous postseason with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Auguste also finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, bringing his double-double total on the season to 22 — the second-most in college basketball, trailing only LSU freshman Ben Simmons (23).

On Sunday, the Irish will draw the winner of No. 1-seeded North Carolina and No. 5-seeded Indiana, who have both beaten Notre Dame this year — although the Irish did split their two games with the Tar Heels.

“They’re going to talk about we were here before, and we played a fabulous game against Kentucky,” Brey said. “Let’s get to Houston man.

“We’re one game away from Houston. They’re very focused and hungry about the next one.”