Louisville trips Irish in OT
Peyton Siva #3 of the Louisville Cardinals falls while trying to dribble around Eric Atkins #0 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the semifinals of the 2011 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament. (March 11, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
So much for the luck of the Irish.
No. 2 seed Notre Dame squandered an opportunity to advance to Saturday night's Big East Tournament final and with it, perhaps a shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Irish, the favorite to take the Big East title after top-seeded Pitt was ousted by UConn in the quarterfinals, had a chance to do something it had never done before: win a Big East Tournament semifinal.
Instead, third-seeded Louisville will face the ninth-seeded Huskies for the Big East crown and the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
Behind 20 points from Preston Knowles and 15 and 14, respectively, from Peyton Siva and Kyle Kuric, the Cardinals outlasted the Irish in overtime, 83-77, in a semifinal that ended early Saturday morning at Madison Square Garden.
Louisville defeated Connecticut in both regular-season meetings between the schools. Lousville last reached the final in 2009 when it defeated Syracuse, 76-66, to win its first Big East title.
Notre Dame (26-6) had several chances to put away the feisty Cardinals but failed to close the door when it counted most. The Irish closed out the first half on a 26-11 run to take a 46-32 halftime advantage. But Big East player of the year Ben Hansbrough was a non-factor for much of the night, shooting just 3-for-16 overall and 2-for-8 from three-point range for 13 points.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said he thought Hansbrough's poor shooting was a direct result of "wanting it too much."
"I think it's going to be a great learning experience," Brey said.
With the score tied at 72, Notre Dame forward Tim Abromaitis (16 points) missed a tip-in, forcing overtime.
The Cardinals (25-8), paced by Knowles' explosiveness, outscored the Irish 11-5 in the extra period. The guard scored 10 of his points in the final 2:47 of regulation and the overtime period.
"We knew that they weren't that deep, but we wanted to keep playing hard, staying with it," Louisville center Terrence Jennings said. "We never gave up and we just locked in down the stretch. We've been doing that all year, just playing these tough games and showing the character of our team.
"A lot of people didn't think we were really going to do that much, as far as in the Big East, and look what we're doing right now. We use that as fuel and we just want to keep battling back every time."
Louisville coach Rick Pitino said former President Bill Clinton, who was in attendance, greeted him and his players. The coach called it "a big treat."
Scott Martin scored a career-high 21 points for the Irish. Queens product Tyrone Nash chipped in 13 points and Carleton Scott added 10.
