Dick Weiss on NCAA Tournament
BROOKLYN, N.Y.— Notre Dame found a way to wake up the echoes last night.
The Irish, who fell behind by 21 points in the second half against Virginia Tech, rallied for a 71-65 victory in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at the Barclays Center here to increase its record 20-13 to and keep their NCAA hopes alive.
It’s amazing what a difference 6-6 senior star forward Bonzie Colson and starting senior point guard Mike Farrell make when they are healthy. Colson, the ACC pre-season Player of the Year, missed almost two months with a broken foot before finally returning to lineup last week and looked tired for long stretches. Farrell missed five games with an ankle injury.
But both came up huge when it counted against the sixth-seeded Hokies.
Farrell scored 22 points, making a huge three to ignite a surge for the Irish, who were down 47-26 with just 14 minutes to play. Colson, who shot just 1 for 10 in the first half when Tech took a 34-21 halftime lead, banked in a go-ahead three-point heave that barely beat the shot clock with two minutes left to give the Irish a 60-59 lead and set the stage for another Irish miracle.
As soon as he knocked out the shot, Colson kissed three fingers on to each hand and gestured to the crowd. “It felt good,’’ he said. “The backboard is there for a reason. As my dad used to say, ‘The backboard is your friend.’’’
As the Irish extended their lead from the foul line in the final minute, Farrell looked over at former Notre Dame star LaPhonso Ellis, who was broadcasting the game for ESPN. “I told you, Phonso,’’’ he yelled. “We ain’t done.’’
The powerful ACC appears to be in good shape to get at least eight bids to the tournament. Virginia, Duke, Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Louisville and North Carolina State appear to be locks in a league where 11 teams have won 20 games. North Carolina knocked Syracuse out of consideration with a victory in the final game of the night doubleheader.
No one knows what the magic number is for a bubble team like Notre Dame. We should learn more after the Irish play fifth-ranked and second seeded Duke in a quarterfinal game tonight.
“I’ve never been a big guy to campaign, but I really think we deserve to be in,’’ Irish coach Mike Brey said. “When I have my guys back, we’re a Top 20 team.’’
Virginia Tech, which has wins over Virginia, Carolina and Duke, looked like it was in control of this game when it shot 46.6 percent in the first half while the Irish shot just 25. But the Hokies flat lined at the wrong time, missing 15 of 16 shots at one point. Tech’s frustrations started to show with eight minutes left when Tech swing man Chris Clarke was called for a technical foul when he pushed Farrell out of bounds during a dead ball.
Farrell responded after the technical foul by hitting a pair of free throws to reduce Tech’s lead to 54- 48 before the Hokies fell into a coma.
“I’ve never been prouder of a group, because they were thumping us pretty good,’’ Brey said. “They’re hard to guard, but I thought in the second half, with the last 15 minutes, but we got better defensively and we made some adjustments offensively and were able to get scoring again.’’
