Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/109499
Those who did witness No. 25 Notre Dame's unfathomable 104-101 fiveovertime victory still can't believe what they witnessed — the longest game in Notre Dame hoops annals, the longest regular-season contest in Big East history and the seventh time the two teams have gone to at least one overtime in their last 11 meetings. And it's the sort of galvanizing effort that could propel the Irish to something greater than the participation ribbon they were on course to receiving this season. 2012-13 Results/ Upcoming Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Dec. 15 vs. Purdue% W, 81-68 Dec. 17 IPFW W, 74-62 Dec. 19 Kennesaw State W, 85-57 Dec. 21 Niagara W, 89-67 Jan. 5 Seton Hall* W, 93-74 Jan. 7 at Cincinnati* W, 66-60 Jan. 12 Connecticut* L, 65-58 Jan. 15 at St. John's* L, 67-63 Jan. 19 Rutgers* W, 69-66 Jan. 21 Georgetown* L, 63-47 Jan. 26 at USF* W, 73-65 Jan. 30 Villanova* W, 65-60 Feb. 2 at DePaul* W, 79-71 (OT) Feb. 4 at Syracuse* L, 64-47 Feb. 9 Louisville* W, 104-101 (5OT) Feb. 13 DePaul* (BEN) 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at Providence* (BEN) 12 p.m. Feb. 18 at Pittsburgh* (ESPN) 7 p.m. Feb. 24 Cincinnati* (CBS) 2 p.m. March 2 at Marquette* (ESPN/ESPN2)2 p.m. March 5 St. John's* (ESPN2) 7 p.m. 4 p.m. March 9 at Louisville* (CBS) March 12-16 Big East Championship! TBA * Big East game; ! at Madison Square Garden in New York. "I've been coaching for a long time," Irish head coach Mike Brey said, "and you can count on one hand the ones where you go, 'That's magical.' "… The one thing I told our team before we went out the last [overtime], I said, this nucleus, when there's been hyped-up games — Syracuse last year, Kentucky earlier this year — they've delivered on these stages, in this building, when there's a lot expected. I thought they did that. They just kept finding ways. Something like this you can certainly build on. We're going to use that to build our confidence and toughness and never feel we're out of it." Notre Dame, which entered the game leading the league in shooting percentage from the field (.481) and from behind the three-point arc (.391), sprayed off-target attempts in regulation to the tune of 37.5 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from deep. When a Louisville free throw made it a 56-48 advantage with 51 seconds remaining in the second half, the Irish seemed out of it. Junior guard Jerian Grant, who didn't have a field goal in the game, had other plans. Grant darted down the court and stroked a three-pointer from 25 feet with hands in his face to make it a five-point deficit. The Cardinals connected on a pair of free throws on the next trip down the floor. Again, Grant had no intention of passing the ball, draining another contested triple from two steps behind the line. Louisville's Russ Smith limited the damage with two more made foul shots for a 60-54 ad-