National Basketball Association
Kentucky 68, Notre Dame 66
When: 8:49 PM ET, Saturday, March 28, 2015
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Officials:
# Joe DeRosa, # David Hall, # Chris Rastatter
Attendance:
19464
By SportsDirect Inc.
Kentucky 68, Notre Dame 66: Andrew Harrison made two foul shots with six seconds left to propel the undefeated Wildcats past the Fighting Irish in a thrilling NCAA Tournament Midwest Region final in Cleveland.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored a career-high 25 points for Kentucky (38-0), which faces Wisconsin - the No. 1 seed from the West Region - in next Saturday's Final Four. Devin Booker added 10 points off the bench, Harrison finished with seven points and Aaron Harrison made a big 3-pointer down the stretch to help the top-seeded Wildcats overcome a six-point deficit with less than six minutes to play.
Zach Auguste paced No. 3 seed Notre Dame (32-6) with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Steve Vasturia added 16 points and Jerian Grant scored 15. After the go-ahead free throws, Grant took the inbound pass and dribbled the length of the court before airballing a contested 3-pointer from the left corner.
Playing with four fouls, Towns muscled in a three-point play to draw Kentucky within 62-61 and Aaron Harrison followed with a long 3-pointer to swing the lead to the Wildcats before Grant answered with a long triple of his own with 2:33 to go. Towns tied the score near the rim with 1:12 left and Kentucky forced a shot-clock violation - Notre Dame's first turnover of the second half - before Harrison was fouled on a drive.
A highly competitive first half ended in a 31-31 deadlock before Notre Dame scored on seven of its first eight possessions of the second half, capped by Pat Connaughton's dunk for a 46-42 edge. The Irish gained some separation on Auguste's putback and Vasturia's 3-pointer for a 59-53 cushion with 6:14 remaining - the largest lead for either team in the game - before Tyler Ulis drained a corner 3-pointer to begin the Wildcats' comeback.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kentucky is in the Final Four for the fourth time in the last five seasons. No team has completed a season undefeated since Indiana finished 32-0 in 1975-76. ... Towns, who finished 10-of-13 from the field (8-of-8 in the second half), had scored eight points or less in four of his previous five games. The only exception in that stretch was a 21-point effort - his previous career high - in the round of 64 against Hampton. ... Undersized Notre Dame hung tough on the boards, getting outrebounded 29-28. Connaughton and Auguste had nine boards apiece.
Top Game Performances
Notre Dame |
|
Kentucky |
Zach Auguste 20 |
Scoring |
Karl-Anthony Towns 25 |
Jerian Grant 6 |
Assists |
Karl-Anthony Towns 4 |
Zach Auguste 9 |
Rebounds |
Trey Lyles 5 |
Jerian Grant 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Andrew Harrison 7 |
Jerian Grant 2 |
Steals |
Karl-Anthony Towns 2 |
Bonzie Colson 1 |
Blocks |
Dakari Johnson 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Notre Dame
|
66 |
46.4 |
4-14 |
10-13 |
16 |
25 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
Kentucky
|
68 |
53.2 |
4-8 |
14-20 |
8 |
28 |
9 |
4 |
11 |