Aaron Harrison of Kentucky after a narrow 68-66 victory over Notre Dame. The Wildcats improved to 38-0 and will play Wisconsin in a national semifinal. Credit Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
CLEVELAND — When the final buzzer sounded and the desperation heave by Jerian Grant had gone safely long, the Kentucky players swarmed off the bench to jump and hug their victorious teammates on the floor.
It was the kind of celebratory reaction that an underdog usually has after scoring a tournament upset against a heavy favorite. But this was the other way around.
The Kentucky Wildcats were the favorites, playing against a Notre Dame team that many had felt would be outclassed and would wilt under the pressure of facing the best and biggest team in the country.
Kentucky was thought to be too tall, too deep and too agile to be overcome, even by the plucky Fighting Irish. Notre Dame did not feel that way.
“We thought we had a great chance to beat them,†Coach Mike Brey said.
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His Irish gave the Wildcats the scare of their season in a game that came down to the last shot. But the Kentucky machine — perhaps dented and vulnerable — still rolled to its 17th Final Four appearance on Saturday after a harrowing 68-66 victory over a worthy Notre Dame team in the round of 8 at Quicken Loans Arena.
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Notre Dame’s Zach Auguste defending Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns in the first half. Credit Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
“We were just fighting to stay in the game, to be honest with you,†Kentucky Coach John Calipari said.
That was supposed to have been third-seeded Notre Dame’s approach entering the game, but its players gave as much as they took, with big dunks and pick-and-roll plays that seemed to confuse the defensively oriented Wildcats.
Until the bitter end, Notre Dame’s dream of beating Kentucky and winning a national championship was alive. But the 2015 college basketball season will countenance only one dream, and it may still be bathed in Kentucky blue.
Notre Dame put on a show for an audience that included LeBron James and J. R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as for many more rushing to television sets across the country as word spread of a potentially enormous upset. The teams went back and forth from the opening tip until the final seconds, when the game could have gone either way.
“We had them where we wanted,†Notre Dame forward Zach Auguste said. “But in the end, we didn’t execute to get the win.â€
Notre Dame led by 5 points with five minutes to play, and by 2, at 66-64, after Grant’s 3-pointer with 2 minutes 35 seconds to play. An upset, which had seemed so improbable before the game began, was now quite possible.
But Kentucky’s youth prevailed. Notre Dame would not score again. A minute later, the freshman Karl-Anthony Towns hit from in close to draw Kentucky even, and the Wildcats then forced a shot-clock violation with 33 seconds to play.
Towns, a nonfactor in the previous game, scored 25 points to lead the Wildcats.
On the next possession, with virtually every fan from the floor to the top row standing, Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison was fouled by Demetrius Jackson, and he coolly hit both free throws with six seconds remaining.
For this bracket, the more unusual that your picks are, the more points you’ll receive — so long as those picks are correct.
It was his twin, Aaron, who hit a critical 3-pointer with just over three minutes to play that had given Kentucky its previous lead. Now, thanks to Andrew Harrison’s focus at the line, Kentucky was back in front.
Notre Dame was out of timeouts, having used two just to help the players catch their breath in what they hoped would be the outcome of their lives. So Pat Connaughton, Notre Dame’s senior forward, inbounded to Grant, his fellow senior and close friend.
Grant dribbled as fast as he could to the left corner, directly in front of the Notre Dame bench, then stopped, turned and hoisted a desperation 3-point attempt. If it had gone in, Notre Dame would have scored one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, up there with Villanova over Georgetown in 1985 and Duke against the unbeaten Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991.
But the shot went long, igniting the Kentucky celebration as the Notre Dame players stood in front of the basket, stunned and disconsolate. A shocking upset that would have sent Notre Dame to only its second Final Four, and its first since 1978, did not materialize.
Instead, Kentucky will go back to the Final Four, in Indianapolis.
“They came right at us,†Calipari said. “They were not afraid, and they were confident. We had to make some plays at the end, and if we don’t make them, they are going to Indianapolis instead of us.â€
Auguste scored 20 points for Notre Dame. Grant added 15 points and 6 assists, and Steve Vasturia contributed 16 points. For Grant and Connaughton, whose drive and dunk midway through the second half ignited the Irish and their fans, it was the final game.
Brey said: “The one thing I said to them in the locker room: ‘You know what’s really depressing? We lost the game, but we don’t get to practice tomorrow.’ I don’t get to be around this group.â€
No men’s team has ever gone 40-0 in one season, but that is what will have to happen if top-seeded Kentucky is to win its ninth N.C.A.A. championship, and its second under Calipari.
“We know we’re not perfect,†Calipari said. “We’re undefeated, but we’re not perfect. You saw it tonight. We are very young.â€
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Almost 37-1, Kentucky Isn't Done, Holding Off a Fearless Notre Dame - New York Times
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