This Notre Dame basketball team might have been one of the last teams to be invited to the NCAA Tournament, but they will not be one of the first four out as they were able to do enough to beat a tough Rutgers team in double overtime by a score of 89-87 in Dayton, Ohio.
A lot of people say that March Madness does not officially start until the field is at 64 on Thursday, but you literally cannot say that after watching this game between two teams just looking to do whatever they could to advance in the tournament. This game was the true start of March Madness in 2022. Notre Dame fans got an early start to their St Patricks Day celebration with this win.
Notre Dame picked up its first NCAA Tournament victory since the last time they were in it back in 2017. The Irish found themselves down by five at halftime, but there was no panic in this Notre Dame team. If you have watched them play at all this year you know by now that the second half has been where they really have thrived all season. Mike Brey has a senior-laden roster minus Blake Wesley and really just trusts his guys.
A lot of teams may have faltered down the stretch or lost confidence, but not this Notre Dame team. In the second half after a Ron Harper Jr. three the Irish found themselves down by eight, but they were able to just keep chipping away at it and get enough stops at the defensive end. Notre Dame was able to take care of the ball for the most part with only committing five turnovers compared to the Rutgers 13 on the night. Having only five turnovers in a double-overtime game is a really impressive stat against a team that is very gritty on defense.
Rutgers scouting report coming in was to take away the three-point line from Notre Dame and they were successful at that with Notre Dame only going 6-19 from three-point range. They were not able to stop Notre Dame in the paint though as the Irish were dominant around the rim.
A key part to the Irish being so dominant was the play from their big man in Paul Atkinson Jr. The graduate transfer in Atkinson Jr. led the way with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He was in the right place at the right time to grab the rebound off the miss from Blake Wesley to give Notre Dame the lead with 1.4 seconds in double overtime.
Caleb McConnell was on fire for Rutgers in the first half and finished with a career-high 23 points on the night. Notre Dame did a better job of defending him in the second half and in the overtime periods. McConnell may have cooled off a bit, but that is when Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker took over for Rutgers on the offensive end of the floor. Harper Jr. finished with 22 points on the night and had a few clutch shots from deep late in the game as he has all year long. Baker finished with 19 points and had a chance to win it at the end of the second half but could not knock down the contested jumper.
Notre Dame now has to travel across the country to San Diego to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday afternoon. Here are a few takeaways for Notre Dame in their huge win against Rutgers.