Feb. 21, 2001
Notre Dame vs. Boston College Box Score
By TOM COYNE
Associated Press Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame was down by one, time was running out and Boston College had Troy Murphy covered, so Martin Ingelsby improvised.
He came up with an ugly, off-balance, falling-down jumper from the free-throw line that went in with 3.7 seconds left to give the Irish a 76-75 victory as the Big East’s top two teams met for the only time during the regular season.
“I saw the lane and I drove it,” said Ingelsby, who is fifth on the team in scoring. “I just wanted to get it on the rim, maybe get a tip-in or something.”
Troy Bell tried to dribble the ball across midcourt and David Graves knocked it away from behind. As the clock ran out, Bell crashed into Ingelsby, knocking out Ingelsby’s tooth.
“It just came flying out,” said Ingelsby, who tried to find the tooth on the floor as Irish students poured out of the stands to celebrate.
Boston College guard Ryan Sidney said his defense against Ingelsby on the final shot was one of his best defensive efforts.
“Ingelsby got a lucky shot off and put the ball in the basket,” Sidney said. “I played it the best I could have.”
The victory edged the Irish (18-6, 10-3) closer to a possible league title, moving two games ahead of Syracuse in the West Division with three games left.
The loss leaves the Eagles (19-4, 10-3) in first place in the league’s East Division, a game ahead of Providence. Sidney said this loss hurt more than the Eagles’ three previous losses.
“This one is going to leave a deep scar,” he said. “That scar is going to carry us through a lot of things from now on.”
Boston College led much of the first half and was ahead 39-34 at halftime. But the Irish opened the second half with a 14-0 run, hitting three 3-pointers and converting on a three-point play, to open a 48-39 lead.
The Irish led by as many as 61-50 when Murphy hit a pair of free throws midway through the second half. But the Eagles later used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 71-69 on a 3-pointer by Sidney.
Sidney converted on a three-point play with 2:01 left to give the Eagles a 75-73 lead. But the Eagles didn’t score again. Murphy hit a free throw with 1:28 left. Kenny Harley missed a shot with 23 seconds left and the Irish called time to set up the last play.
Murphy finished with 23 points even though Boston College did a good job of denying him the ball, especially in the first half, and he made just 4-of-12 shots from the field, two of them 3-pointers. He was 13-of-18 from the free-throw line.
Boston College coach Al Skinner was furious.
“He shot more free throws than my whole team. I don’t know how that happens,” he said. “It’s very difficult to win games on the road when a team’s going to shoot that many more free throws than you.”
The Irish were 21-of-32 from the free-throw line while the Eagles were 10-of-14.
Matt Carroll had his first career double-double as he had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Humphrey had 15 points, four rebounds and six blocked shots and Ingelsby scored 10.
Bell had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, Harley scored 14 and Kenny Walls had 13. But Harley and Walls didn’t score in the second half.
Bell only had five points in the first half, and blamed his teammates.
“I don’t think it was due to anything Notre Dame did,” Bell said. “My team was just looking elsewhere. They’re my teammates and I trust them, and some other guys were hot early. But there were times I felt I was open and I didn’t get the ball.”