Men’s Basketball Upset By Irish – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/16/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 1999
%^$Box Score
%^$Postgame Notes and Quotes
%^$Jim O’Brien Postgame Interview
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By RUSTY MILLER
%^$AP Sports Writer
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Matt Doherty made an exception this time.%^$
David Graves’ 15-foot jumper at the buzzer gave Notre Dame a 59-57 upset of%^$No. 4 Ohio State on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Preseason NIT.%^$
“I usually have a `Midnight Rule,’ where I only allow the guys to enjoy a%^$win until midnight,” Doherty said after winning his first game as a head%^$coach. “But since we’ve got about a four-hour bus ride home, I guess I’ll let%^$them celebrate a little longer.”%^$
Graves, who finished with 18 points, dribbled from the backcourt to the left%^$wing, fumbled for the ball for a split second and got off the shot as the%^$buzzer sounded. The Fighting Irish, coming off a 14-16 season, advance to meet%^$Siena, an 89-79 winner over Davidson, in the second round Thursday night.%^$
Ohio State, which was 27-9 last season and had four starters back from a%^$team that reached the Final Four, pulled even on a three-point play by Scoonie%^$Penn with 18 seconds left.%^$
“Obviously, it’s a very disappointing loss,” Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien%^$said. “Give a lot of the credit to Notre Dame. They had a good game plan and%^$on this night it worked. The worst thing about it is, we have to wait two weeks%^$to play again. That is not a pleasant situation. I wish we were able to play%^$tomorrow.”%^$
Doherty, a member of North Carolina’s national championship team in 1982,%^$was making his head coaching debut after lengthy assistant stints at Davidson%^$and Kansas.%^$
“I feel we’re very fortunate,” Doherty said. “We performed well and Ohio%^$State didn’t perform very well.”%^$
Troy Murphy led the Irish with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Martin%^$Ingelsby added 14 points.%^$
Only four players scored and only six even attempted a shot for Notre Dame,%^$which won despite committing 25 turnovers.%^$
Penn led the Buckeyes with 15 points, follow by Michael Redd with 11. But%^$they both struggled all night and combined for only seven points in the second%^$half.%^$
“We didn’t want Scoonie Penn beating us and I didn’t want Michael Redd%^$beating us,” Doherty said. “We wanted to put the focus defensively on them.”%^$
Penn, picked as a preseason All-America, was 6-of-17 from the field and Redd%^$was only 4-of-16, including a missed layup off an inbounds play that could have%^$tied the game in the final 30 seconds.%^$
Ohio State had a horrible shooting night, making just 22 of 66 shots for 33%^$percent.%^$
“We missed more shots than they took,” O’Brien said. “That, plus their%^$turnovers, indicates that we should’ve won but they were very efficient on%^$offense.”%^$
In the other locker room, there was a lot of talk about the luck of the%^$Irish.%^$
“We were lucky,” Doherty said. “Michael Redd didn’t have to miss that%^$layup. Then again, David Graves didn’t have to make that jumper.”%^$
Still, a 9-0 run midway through the second half gave the Buckeyes a 41-34%^$lead. That surge was spurred by the team’s Yugoslav connection, Slobodan%^$Savovic and Slobodan Ocokoljic.%^$
The Buckeyes had missed nine of their previous 11 shots before George Reese%^$hit a 15-foot jumper, Ocokoljic drove the lane for a bucket, Reese dunked%^$inside off an assist from Savovic and Savovic then buried a 3-pointer from the%^$top of the key.%^$
But Notre Dame wouldn’t go away and took the lead at 54-51 on Ingelsby’s%^$3-pointer with 1:47 left. The Irish added to that on a bucket by Murphy with%^$just under a minute to play before Penn hit two free throws with 35 seconds%^$left to cut it to 56-54.%^$
After Redd missed the wide-open layup with 29 seconds left, Murphy hit a%^$foul shot two seconds later to set the stage for the wild finish.%^$
“I knew my team and we are not that good at this time of year,” O’Brien%^$said. “We need to let go of what was last year. We are a different team this%^$year.”%^$
Notre Dame hit half of its 16 3-point attempts while Ohio State was 5-of-23%^$behind the arc.%^$
It was the first time the teams had met in 26 years.%^$
