Tourney Run Ends in Heartbreak for Irish
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
March 19, 2001
Kansas City, Missouri - Ryan Humphrey hit a 10 foot jump shot with about one minute and 13 seconds remaining in the game to give Notre Dame its first lead of the second, but on the next Ole Miss possession, Jason Harrison, a 5-5 guard, hit a three pointer to give Ole Miss the lead for good.
Notre Dame had its chances in the final minute. Matt Carroll was fouled after Ole Miss went up by three, but missed the first of his shots and the lead remained at two. Notre Dame had a chance to tie the game when David Sanders missed the front end of a one and one, but Matt Carroll's shot was blocked by Sanders. Then with only two seconds remaining, Jason Flanigan hit the second of two free throws to extend the Ole Miss lead to three. Notre Dame could not score however and the game was over.
The Irish performance was a far cry from the performance turned in by Brey's crew Friday night when they shot over 60% from the floor. David Graves who was a perfect seven for seven from the field on Friday was a mere 2-11 from the field this afternoon. Troy Murphy joined Graves in shooting poorly from the second consecutive game hitting on only 4 of 16 attempts. He was however 8 of 10 from the line for 17 points.
Despite the Irish's shooting woes, they were in the game late and lead with only 1:13 remaining. Tough defense and clutch scoring from Ryan Humphrey got the Irish back in game. The Irish used a late 11-4 run to get back into the game after the Rebels started to pull away.
Despite being the lower seed in this contest, the loss is a major disappointment to the players, coaches, and fans all of whom thought this team was capable of at least a Sweet 16 berth. In fact, the Irish were a one point favorite heading into this afternoon's game.
This team did however come a far way from the blowout loss to Wake Forest in last year's NIT Finial. They also came a far way from earlier in the year when it looked as if having three coaches in three years was just too much for a team that featured only one senior player who saw significant time.
Although the season ends in a loss, it is a sign of progress. Last season the Irish made it to the NIT Finals. This season they got to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Now, next season anything less than a Sweet 16 will be a let down. The program is on the rise and even if Troy Murphy leaves for the NBA, this team will still be a major force in the Big East with the additions of Chris Thomas and Jordan Cornette.
Now that the season is over all the attention will now be focused on Troy Murphy's decision of whether to come back for his senior year or to go to the NBA. On one hand he made it to the NCAA Tournament and will receive a nice pay day if he decides to go to the NBA. On the other hand, he did not perform dominantly, like he is capable of, in the Tournament and may not want to go out on such a sour note. It will be interesting to see what he decides and will be fun to speculate thousands of different reasons why he will go either way until he decides.