SOUTH BEND, Ind. – It was a rollercoaster of emotions inside Purcell Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. Notre Dame men’s basketball rallied down nine against Georgetown in the second half to take a lead with eight seconds remaining. However, the Hoyas got the tying basket with 1.2 seconds left and then won in overtime by the score of 72-68. As a result, the Fighting Irish drop to 4-6 on the season while the Hoyas improved to 7-4.
Four Irish finished in double figures, led by 17 points from Markus Burton. The freshman point guard had 12 points in the second half plus overtime. Julian Roper II and J.R. Konieczny produced 13 points each, as the latter flirted with a double-double with eight rebounds. Braeden Shrewsberry also secured double-digit points with 10.
Notre Dame shot 39.4 percent from the field and went 8-of-32 from deep. Georgetown won the battle of the boards 39-36.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Georgetown utilized an early 7-0 scoring run to jump out to an 18-13 lead, going 8-of-13 from the field. Notre Dame rode behind great starts from Konieczny and Roper II then took back the lead at 23-22 after a driving layup from Shrewsberry.
Speaking of Roper II, he later had a #SCTop-10 moment when he drove the length of the court then had a circus backwards layup. Moments later, Matt Zona recorded an offensive board and putback, bringing the home crowd to its feet and forcing a Georgetown timeout with the Irish up 27-24.
Defensively, the Irish held the Hoyas to without a field goal for nearly an eight-minute stretch the first half. Offensively, the Irish rode the wave of momentum to a 12-2 run and 35-26 lead. However, the Hoyas fired back with a 7-0 scoring spree in 90 seconds to cut it to a one-possession game at the half, with ND up 35-33.
At the halfway point, all eight Irish players who saw playing time had points in a very balanced attack.
The Hoyas, who finished the first half strong, started the second half that way as well with a 15-4 start to go up 48-39. Out of the media timeout the offense picked up a little steam with a Booth three-pointer and four points from Burton which cut the deficit to five points.
With 7:45 remaining, a five-point flurry from Shrewsberry, plus a free throw from Roper II, made it a one-possession game with the Irish down 55-52. Fast forward to the 3:31 media timeout and Konieczny earned a steal and breakaway dunk to keep the Irish within striking distance at 58-54.
Later, four straight points from Roper II had the Irish knocking at the door down two, then stout defensive play led to a Davis slam to tie the game at 60-all with 1:25 on the clock. Fast forward again to 27.8 seconds left, the game still tied at 60, and the Irish had the ball coming out of a timeout. Burton drove the lane and secured the go-ahead layup.
Yet, with only eight seconds remaining, Georgetown drove the length of the floor and answered with a layup of their own. With 1.2 now left, Burton’s full-court heave nearly went in so Notre Dame and Georgetown settled for overtime.
Buton had all six of Notre Dame’s points in overtime. Notre Dame was up 68-67 with 1:38 left but Georgetown’s Massoud hit a digger three to gain a lead they would never surrender. The Irish did get an opportunity down two to either tie or take the lead, but Njie’s three was blocked.
UP NEXT
The Irish continue the lengthy homestand with Citadel on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 6 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
— ND –