Irish Rally to Extend Home Winning Streak to 41

Johnny McDermott Sunday 14, December 2008

#12/13 Notre Dame (7-2) 74, Boston University (5-4) 67

            Despite trailing and being outplayed for most of the contest, the Irish rallied late for a 74-67 victory over the feisty Boston University Terriers who just could not hit enough shots down the stretch to grab the road upset.  The Irish victory extended Notre Dame's home-court winning streak to 41 games.  (Jr. PF #44) Luke Harangody led the Irish with 23 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 blocks while Corey Lowe led the Terriers with 19 points.  The Terriers took a 6-point lead into halftime and had the Joyce Center crowd nervous behind relentless pressure on the offensive glass.  The Terriers were winning the battle of the boards 29-16 at halftime and they were winning the offensive rebounding battle 13-4.  However, the first possession of the second half would set the tone for the Irish as Harangody grabbed for a rebound and despite being tied up, yanked it away after the whistle with a shout, showing that the Irish would not be pushed around on the glass in the second half.  The Irish played better on the glass in the second half and finally got some shots to fall to overcome some great 2^nd half 3-point shooting from the Terriers and escape with the victory.

            The Irish got on the board first as (Sr. F #33) Zach Hillesland drove for a layup and the 2-0 lead.  BU went on a quick 6-0 run as the Irish could not open 3-pointers to fall and Harangody had to leave the game briefly due to a cut on the cheek.  Harangody hit a driving Hillesland on the Irish's next possession and Hillesland converted the 3-point play to cut the Terrier lead to 1.  After a missed 3, an offensive rebound led to a John Holland jumper that made it 8-5.  Two straight turnovers led to 5 BU points and it was 13-5 and Coach Brey called timeout to settle things down.  A missed jumper by Hillesland led to two missed shots by BU but they grabbed offensive rebounds both times and a foul on the rebounding action on (Sr. PG #20) Jonathan Peoples led to a 13-5 BU lead at the first TV timeout.  A Carlos Strong jumper made the lead 15-5, the biggest lead either team would hold all game.  Each team exchanged some empty possessions until (Sr. G/F #42) Ryan Ayers drained a 3 to break a 4 minute scoreless streak and after a BU turnover, Harangody got on the board with a jumper but was unable to convert the free throw for the 3-point play.  The Irish defense stiffened on the next few possessions with blocked shots by Harangody and Ayers but BU kept grabbing the offensive rebounds.  Eventually, the Irish were able to get the ball back and (Sr. C #40) Luke Zeller drained a 3 after coming off the bench to cut the lead to 15-13.  BU would break its 4 minute scoreless drought with a Scott Brittain free throw.  After an Irish turnover, the possession that defined the first half occurred as Corey Lowe missed a 3 pointer but Matt Wolff grabbed the offensive board.  Tyler Morris then missed a 3 but got his own offensive rebound and missed a layup but John Holland grabbed the offensive board and drained a jumper for an 18-13 lead with 9:26 to play in the half.

            Harangody responded with a jumper of his own to cut the lead to 3 but BU answered with a 3-pointer to make it a 21-15 lead.  Harangody scored again for the Irish to make it 21-17 and (Jr. PG #2) Tory Jackson would get on the board with a jumper of his own to cut it to 21-19.  BU responded yet again, this time with a 3-point play to extend the lead back to 5.  Gody hit 2 free throws to get it back to 3 but another basket following an offensive rebound put the lead right back to 5.  (Sr. SG #23) Kyle McAlarney then finally scored in the game as he hit a 3 to cut the lead to 2 and it looked like the Irish had a chance to get the lead at the half.  Gody blocked a 3 and Peoples hit a 3 to give the Irish a 1-point lead and the Joyce Center crowd was finally back into the game.  BU called timeout and hit a 3 of their own to get the lead back.  Harangody missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and a layup for BU and 2 free throws gave the Terriers a 33-27 lead after Zeller's 3 at the buzzer missed. 

            The Irish needed to start the second half strong and stop being dominated on the boards.  BU came out firing with a 3-pointer though to extend the lead to 9.  Harangody continued to do his best to keep the Irish in the game, hitting a jumper, getting fouled, and making the free throw to cut the lead to 6.  Gody would hit another jumper to cut the lead to 4 and Ayers made it a 2 point game before BU got back in the scoring column on a 3-point play by Lowe.  Hillesland drove to the hole hard and cut the lead to 3 but missed the free throw on the 3-point play attempt.  Lowe drained a 3 to make it 42-36 but Hillesland scored 4 straight points to cut the lead to 42-40.  McAlarney then made a 3 to put the Irish back in the lead but a timeout and then a 3 by Tyler Morris made it 45-43 BU.  Zeller tied the game with a jumper before Lowe drained another 3.  Gody then went on a personal 4-0 run with a layup, a blocked shot, and another layup to make it a 49-48 Notre Dame lead.  Lowe and Carlos Strong would hit back-to-back 3s to give the Terriers a 5 point lead as BU just would not go away quietly.  Ayers hit a jumper to stop the run but Holland hit a 3 to make it 57-51.  Jackson cut the lead to 4 and after the 8-minute timeout Gody hit another layup to cut the lead to 57-55.  BU would hit 2 free throws before Gody hit 2 free throws and McAlarney hit 2 as well to make it 59-59.  Lowe scored again to make it 61-59 but McAlarney hit a 3 to give the Irish a 1-point lead.  The teams traded scores before Lowe hit another 3 to make it 66-64 BU.  McAlarney answered this time with a 3 and the Irish took a 1-point lead.  BU would go to the line and hit 1 of 2 to tie the game with 1:54 to play but they would not score again.  Ayers hit a 3 with the shot clock running down and after a BU missed 3, the Terriers inexplicably let the shot clock run down to 9 seconds without fouling and then fouled McAlarney who calmly drained 2 free throws.  The Terriers missed another 3 and then Jackson hit 2 more free throws to ice the game.