Texas Tech superior to the Candy 16.
AP
SAN DIEGO — The nation’s premier protection lastly confirmed up — and at precisely the fitting time.
Eventually, within the closing minutes, Texas Tech’s famend strain took over, and Notre Dame’s magic run got here to a sudden halt.
The third-seeded Purple Raiders held the No. 11 Combating Irish with out a subject aim over the past 3:11 and survived, 59-53, in a West Area second-round sport, sending the Huge 12 college right into a Candy 16 showdown in opposition to No. 2 Duke in San Francisco.
“They’re males,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey mentioned. “While you watch the middle leap, our our bodies in comparison with their our bodies, whew. … ”He added: “You'll be able to’t run something in opposition to them.”
Two Blake Wesley turnovers and a missed layup opened the door for Texas Tech, which closed on a 10-1 run. Notre Dame, the final crew to get into the sphere, had survived a double-overtime thriller in opposition to Rutgers within the First 4 in Dayton, Ohio, and upset No. 6 Alabama on Friday. Nevertheless it didn’t have sufficient to carry off deeper, extra bodily Texas Tech.
Two free throws from Kevin Obanor, a power with 15 factors and 15 rebounds, gave the Purple Raiders (27-9) the lead for good with 1:10 left, and Kevin McCullar put an exclamation level on the win with a dunk within the closing seconds at jam-packed Viejas Enviornment.
“We all know one factor that will likely be constant is our protection and energy,” mentioned McCullar, who scored 14 factors. “We need to be the hardest-playing crew on the market at all times.”
For a big phase of the second half, it appeared like Notre Dame is likely to be enjoying its approach into an unlikely Candy 16. The three-pointers had been falling and Brey’s crew had the lead. When Dane Goodwin (team-high 14 factors) sank a jumper for the Irish’s ninth 3-pointer of the sport with 5:21 left, they had been only one shy of double digits. After they hit 10 or extra, they're 15-1 on the season. However Notre Dame (24-11) didn’t hit one other, and managed simply 5 factors the remainder of the way in which, because it was held to 32 p.c capturing from the sphere.
“We knew down the stretch that we needed to eradicate that or the sport in all probability wouldn’t have gone our approach,” McCullar mentioned. “We made some big-time performs on the defensive finish. It was simply our will, we didn’t need to ship the seniors residence but.”
And so Texas Tech’s stunning season continued, with the varsity’s third journey to the second weekend within the final 4 tournaments. Expectations on the surface weren’t excessive for this crew, following the departure of Chris Beard to Texas. However below first-year head coach Mark Adams, the Purple Raiders overachieved behind their vice-grip protection, and now they get a crack at Duke on Thursdaywith a spot within the regional finals up for grabs.
“I do know firstly of the yr nobody even picked us or ranked us,” McCullar mentioned. “We’re attempting to show folks incorrect and preserve advancing as a household.”
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