rattled out in the closing seconds, and 11th-seeded Old Dominion
delivered the first upset of the NCAA tournament when it stunned
sixth-seeded Notre Dame 51-50 on Thursday in the South Regional.
The Fighting Irish rushed the ball up the court
as the clock wound down, but Scott's attempt to tie the game didn't
fall and Luke Harangody's putback at the buzzer wasn't enough.
Frank Hassell scored 15 to lead Old Dominion
(27-8), which had not won an NCAA tournament game since beating
Villanova in triple overtime in 1995 as a No. 14 seed.
Harangody was held to four points for the Irish
(23-12), all in the final minute, while Ben Hansbrough scored 17.
Notre Dame built a nine-point lead in the first
half and still led 30-22 early in the second before the Monarchs used a
9-0 run to take the lead. It was close the rest of the way.
Hassell's three-point play with 5:51 remaining
tied it at 43, and neither team scored for the next three minutes. Old
Dominion's Darius James traded 3-pointers with Scott, and Gerald Lee put
Old Dominion ahead with a shot from the perimeter. After Harangody
missed inside, Lee made a free throw to make it 49-46 with 56.2 seconds
left.
Tory Jackson missed a potential tying 3, but
James missed the front end of a one-and-one from the foul line for Old
Dominion. Harangody finally scored his first points with 12.6 seconds
left to make it 49-48, but Keyon Carter made both free throws with 9.6
seconds remaining.
In a game that was all about defense, the
outcome fittingly came down to a missed shot.
Notre Dame led 15-6 early on, a margin that
felt bigger because of the game's slow pace, but Old Dominion rallied
quickly. Kent Bazemore scored while drawing a foul, and although he
missed the free throw, the Monarchs came up with the ball. Hassell then
scored inside while drawing Harangody's second foul with 9:38 to play.
He completed the three-point play and scored again moments later to cut
the lead to two.
The Irish led by nine again at 26-17 after
Hansbrough's 3-pointer from the left wing. He finished the first half
with 10 points, and Notre Dame led 28-22.
Notre Dame entered the game having won six of
its last seven with a more deliberate offense installed after Harangody
hurt his knee. The 6-foot-8 senior went down Feb. 11 and missed five
games, and had been coming off the bench.
The Irish's run is over now, though, and Old
Dominion is headed to the second round to face Baylor or Sam Houston
State. When the buzzer sounded, the Old Dominion fans began chanting
"C-A-A" — a reference to the Colonial Athletic Association, where the
Monarchs play.