I don’t even know how to recap this game. I watched the whole thing and almost turned it off as Notre Dame went up eight with two minutes left. Ohio State looked they just didn’t have it tonight. They would go into conference play with a tough loss to a decent Notre Dame team.
Lenzelle Smith, Jr and Aaron Craft proved it ain’t over til it’s over.
Ohio State played a great first half, preventing Notre Dame from finding any offensive rhythm. Notre Dame tried to work the ball in said and had minimal success with Sherman against Amir Williams, but otherwise the Buckeyes forced Notre Dame into bad shots and Notre Dame didn’t help themselves, missing a lot of good looks and open shots.
Ohio State on offense wasn’t burning down the house, but made enough shots (Shannon Scott particularly) to go into the half in the lead and looking in control.
The second half was all Notre Dame. They finally starting making the open shots they missed in the first half while the Buckeyes went cold. No offensive flow at all. Notre Dame pulled out to an eight point lead with little time left on the clock. It looked bad for Ohio State. Like I said, I almost turned it off.
Then the unthinkable happened. Ohio State stole an inbounds pass and quickly scored. Down by six. Then another stolen inbounds, another bucket. Down four. A third steal led to two free throws from Shannon Scott. Down two. After two Notre Dame free throws, Lenzelle Smith, Jr. got a Notre Dame defender to go for a pump-fake and was then fouled. Three straight free throws, down one. Smith then scored on a pass from Craft and then two free throws. Up three.
They wouldn’t relinquish the lead after that. Of course, there was only nine seconds left.
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