For much of the night it seemed Notre Dame’s seven game win streak was ready to come to a crashing halt. The Villanova Wildcats held a 20-point lead over the Irish before Notre Dame’s improbable second half comeback kept the Irish streak alive as Notre Dame beat the Wildcats 74-70 in overtime tonight in The Pavilion.
After trailing Villanova 39-19 with just 1:50 left in the first half the Irish outscored the Wildcats 55-31 en route to another huge win.
Notre Dame and Villanova switched roles during the first 20 minutes of the game. The Irish were the team that could not defend or shoot the basketball, two things Villanova has struggled with all season. Notre Dame shot just 35.7-percent from the field during the opening half and made just 3-of-12 from behind the arc. Notre Dame’s backcourt was especially bad as the Irish guards made just 3-of-14 from the field.
Villanova, playing without starting guards Maalik Wayns and James Bell, shot the ball extremely well early in the game. The Wildcats shot 48.4-percent from the field as their freshmen came up huge early on. Freshman forward JayVaughn Pinkston continued his recent strong play by putting up 14 points in the opening stanza.
Villanova used runs of 13-0 and 8-0 to build up its big early lead. Jay Wright’s club was especially dominant on the boards, out-rebounding Notre Dame by a 20-to-7 margin in the first twenty minutes of the game.
Irish junior Jack Cooley, Notre Dame’s lone first half bright spot, scored the final four points of the half. Those four points would end up being huge for the Irish, who entered the halfway point down 39-23.
Notre Dame’s shooting woes continued early in the second half as the Irish missed their first six shots out of the locker room. Villanova could not take advantage as the Wildcats looked like their usual selves out of the break. They simply could not shoot the basketball and turned the ball over early in the second half.
Irish freshman Pat Connaughton knocked down a three-pointer with 15:51 left in the game to cut the Villanova lead to 40-29. That triple would be the start of an impressive Irish run. After starting the game off 3-of-12 from behind the arc the Irish caught fire in the second half and in overtime.
A Jerian Grant triple cut the Villanova lead to 10, but Notre Dame went cold again as the Irish went almost four minutes without scoring a point. But again Villanova could not take advantage of the Irish cold streak.
Trailing 46-32 with under twelve minutes to go the Irish began to make their run. Point guard Eric Atkins knocked down a triple with 10:52 left to get the Irish within nine points. Villanova continued its cold shooting and Atkins would add a layup two minutes later to continue to chip into the Wildcat lead.
Freshman Tyron Johnson made a layup and Pinkston followed that up with a triple to push the lead back to 10, but Connaughton again answered with one of his seven triples on the night. The two teams traded free throws over the next three minutes before Atkins took over the game.
Atkins hit a layup and then hit Cooley for a deuce as the Irish cut the lead to 56-51 with just over three minutes left in the game. Connaughton followed with another from deep as the Irish cut the lead to two. A Pinkston turnover, one of 11 on the night for the Wildcats, led to another Atkins bucket. The Irish point guard hit an off balance runner and was fouled. His free throw gave the Irish a 57-56 lead, its first since the 14:19 mark of the first half.
Grant, who struggled all night long, knocked down a step back triple from behind the NBA line as the Irish took a 60-56 lead with just 1:01 left in the game. Villanova would have one more run left as the Wildcats were able to tie the score at 60-60 thanks to a Maurice Sutton put back with just five second left in regulation.
That layup sent the game to overtime but the Irish had all the momentum heading into the extra session.
Connaughton and Pinkston traded triples as the two teams went back-and-forth early in the overtime session.
Grant was left wide open for a triple from the right wing as the Irish took a lead it would not lose. Villanova took poor shots down the stretch and the Irish came up with the big shots. Connaughton’s final triple of the night gave the Irish a 71-65 lead with under a minute left in the game.
Cooley and Atkins put the game away from the line as the Irish continued their miraculous run.
With the win the Irish improve to 19-8 on the season and 11-3 in conference play. Notre Dame has now won eight straight games.
Cooley had another huge night for the Irish scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, his fourth consecutive double-double. All of Connaughton’s 21 points came from behind the arc as the freshman knocked down 7-of-12 from deep. Connaughton added nine rebounds on the night as well.
Atkins scored 17 points and led the Irish with six assists, coming up with big plays for the Irish during its big second half comeback. Grant struggled from the floor but came up with two huge triples late in the game.
Notre Dame shot 9-of-18 from deep during the second half and overtime. The three point shot was the catalyst for the Irish. Notre Dame used great ball movement in the second half as the extra pass often broke free a wide open shooter. When the Irish shooters got their chances they came up huge late in the game.
Pinkston came up big for the Wildcats, scoring 24 points for Villanova. He struggled with his shot during the second half but he continues to develop as a scorer for the Wildcats. Junior Maurice Sutton came into the game averaging just 2.3 points and 2.2 rebounds but his 10-point, 11-rebound performance was his third double-double in the last five games for Villanova.
With the loss Villanova drops to a disappointing 11-15 on the season and 4-10 in conference play. Villanova has now lost five of six and seven of its last 10 games. The Wildcats host Connecticut on Monday before traveling to No. 9 Georgetown next Saturday.
Notre Dame remains tied with Marquette for second place in the conference. The Irish host West Virginia on Wednesday night and travel to St. John’s next Saturday.
