Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/109499
vantage with 33 seconds to play. Grant drilled his third consecutive three-pointer five seconds later — and the roar from the home crowd was exponentially louder than the first two eruptions. Then Louisville center Gorgui Dieng missed a pair from the stripe, the second of which was rebounded by Irish sophomore guard Pat Connaughton, who made sure the ball found Grant's hands again. Slicing through the lane, Grant absorbed contact and completed a threepoint play the old fashioned way to tie the game at 60-60 with 16 ticks remaining. Grant had tallied 12 points in just 29 seconds. An overall smothering effort by the Irish defense prevented the Cardinals from getting a game-winning shot attempt off. "I have hit game-winning shots before, but there is nothing that really compares to this," said Grant, who finished with 19 points before fouling out two minutes into the first overtime. "That final minute in regulation was just surreal. I was just thinking that I did not want to lose that game. We knew that losing two in a row in the Big East would be very tough to come back from. After I hit the first one, it became a lot easier. My shots were just going in." The Irish got a gutsy 60-minute effort from junior point guard Eric Atkins (14 points) with Grant out and senior forwards Jack Cooley (11 points and 11 rebounds) and Tom Knight (five points and five boards) having fouled out prior to the bonus time. Atkins, along with Connaughton, who registered his first double-double of the year (16 points and 14 rebounds), chased Louisville out of town early Sunday morning with a group of inexperienced bench players. No reserve stepped up to the challenge more than senior center Garrick Sherman, who has seen his playing time plummet in recent weeks. Sherman, whose first action in the game came in the first OT, poured in 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. "I don't know if there's a more complete team win than this," Sherman said of an outcome that required nine Irish players (every able body other than walk-on Patrick Crowley). "We just kept fighting. I probably couldn't Irish 3-Point Play Marathon Man Irish junior point guard Eric Atkins matched a Notre Dame record by playing 60 minutes against Louisville, tying Chris Thomas, who played 60 minutes in Notre Dame's four-overtime win at Georgetown (116-111) on Feb. 9, 2002. Atkins ranks second nationally with 38.21 minutes per game behind Oakland's Travis Bader (38.42). Welcome Back, Sherman In his eight previous games, dating back to the 65-58 home loss to Connecticut on Jan. 12, Irish senior center Garrick Sherman was 0 of 7 from the field in 29 combined minutes. He played 22 in the five-overtime win over Louisville — all after the end of regulation — and was 7 of 10 from the field en route to 17 points. Double Your Fun Senior forward Jack Cooley has registered 16 double-doubles this season, giving him 29 in his Irish career. — Wes Morgan