BROOKLYN – In the third-place game of the Legends Classic on Friday, it was another first-time matchup as Notre Dame men’s basketball clashed with Oklahoma State. Speaking of firsts, it was the first overtime match of the Coach Shrewsberry era. With the game tied 55-all at the end of regulation, the Fighting Irish (2-2) got it done on both ends of the court to secure the 66-64 victory.
Notre Dame led 63-62 with 20 seconds left and turned to its defense, forcing a tough three which led to a defensive board. Markus Burton and J.R. Konieczny later hit critical free throws to give the Irish the OT victory over the Cowboys (1-3).
Burton lifted the Irish with a team high 20 points – 10 of which came in the second half and another six in the overtime period. Burton was later named to the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team
Then how about Konieczny, who recorded a double-double for the second consecutive game, netting 11 points and 10 rebounds. Thus, over the two Legends Classic games, Konieczny totaled 29 points and 21 boards.
Julian Roper II tied his career high of 12 points and tied his season high of eight rebounds. Furthermore, all eight Irish who saw time on the court today registered points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Konieczny was rewarded with his first career start after producing a double-double off the bench yesterday. He responded by getting the offense going with the team’s first five points. Moments later, Carey Booth hit back-to-back three-pointers, followed by a Braeden Shrewsberry pull-up jumper and the Irish grabbed its first lead of the game at 13-11.
Fast forward to the 6:20 mark in the first half and Roper II took over for a 90-second stretch, scoring seven straight points. Soon after, Tae Davis threw down a thunderous dunk followed by a corner three from Logan Imes, and next thing you know, Notre Dame was on a 12-0 scoring run spanning four minutes.
All-in-all, the Irish recorded a stretch in the waning minutes in which they hit 7-of-10 from the field. Said stretch was capped by a Shrewsberry three-pointer which brought us to our halftime score of 33-25.
Roper II and Burton combined to score 10 of the team’s first 13 points in the second half. Then the Irish suffered from a five minute and twenty second drought that was eventually ended by Matt Zona. Moments later, Oklahoma State would cut Notre Dame’s lead to just three points at 50-47. Yet, Konieczny answered with a big three to make it 53-47 at 6:33.
Turnovers plagued the Irish late – seven in fact over a 5:36 stretch that bled into the final minute. Oklahoma State took advantage with a three with 58 seconds remaining that cut it to one point at 55-54.
On the ensuing possession, Roper II’s shot was blocked, but he collected the rebound as Coach Shrewsberry called timeout with 31.1 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Notre Dame’s three was off-target as the Cowboys collected the board and called their final timeout. OK State’s Dailey went to the line with 9.3 seconds on the clock and made just 1-of-2 to tie the game. Burton got the in-bounds and took it the length of the court where he had a pull-up jumper near the baseline on the right side. His shot hit iron and bounced out, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, it was all grit on both ends. Offensively, Burton had six, Davis had two before fouling out and Konieczny had three. And when Notre Dame needed stops the most in the final two minutes, they got it, securing the 66-64 OT win.
UP NEXT
Next – a return to the friendly confines of Purcell Pavilion where the Irish will host Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. ET.
— ND –