From an anticipated/expected stagger across the finish line to an all-out sprint.
Not a bad way to find a second wind to wind down the regular season.
Noie: Could Notre Dame basketball figure it out in another close ACC contest?
Notre Dame basketball will take it and run with it, for however long league tournament play might last. Heading into the final week, Notre Dame looked in danger of not even qualifying for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament after losing seven of nine. Two home wins later, including a wild four-overtime survival against Cal, Notre Dame enters the league tournament on a two-game win streak, and with some sustained confidence.
What happened in the regular season matters for nothing now. Everyone starts this week the same. The Irish don't want to stop playing now, so might as well keep winning.
Notre Dame leads 40-32, and 8-5 as Atlantic Coast Conference colleagues in a series that started with a 33-17 Irish win in the old Fieldhouse on February 19, 1927. The Irish are 3-1 in neutral site games.
The teams have met once in the ACC Tournament, a 67-64 Irish win on March 6, 2018 at Barclays Center in New York.
Notre Dame won the only meeting this season, 76-72, on February 22 at Purcell Pavilion. The game featured nine ties and 12 lead changes. Tae Davis led the Irish with 21 points and three rebounds. Markus Burton added 20 points, six rebounds and three assists. Notre Dame scored 36 points in the paint.
Everything the Panthers want to do and how they want to play centers around sophomore guard Jaland Lowe, who quietly had an All-ACC caliber season.
The 6-foot-3, 175-pound lefty from Missouri City, Texas, ranked 10 in the league in scoring (16.7 ppg.), first in free throw percentage (.883), fourth in steals (1.77) and minutes (35.25), fifth in assists (5.50) and 13 in assist/turnover ratio (1.90). He had a team high five double doubles, including 15 points and 10 assists in Saturday's 26-point win over Boston College.
Lowe had 13 points, three rebounds, four assists and four steals in 38 minutes in the first game against Notre Dame, but he waited too long (deep into the second half) before getting going. If he's attacking early in this one, he'll be a handful.
Somewhere along the line this season, Notre Dame was going to need the size and the physicality and experience of graduate student power forward Nikita Konstantynovskyi, who waited until the last game of the regular season to have that game.
With starter and leading rebounder Kebba Njie limited to 18 minutes in the 60-minute game against Cal, Konstantynovskyi stepped into the spot and delivered career highs for rebounds (17, including 16 on the defensive end) and minutes (44 after a combined 47 the previous six games). He scored only six points (3-of-3 from the field) but was a presence while starting for the third time.
Njie's status for Tuesday is cloudy, which means Konstantynovskyi might get the call again. Delivering again also would be nice for the 6-10, 260-pound native of Ukraine.
Notre Dame 79, Pittsburgh 73: The Irish had several chances to cash it in and give in Saturday, but kept battling and believing like a team that doesn't want to see this season end. Why not stick around Charlotte for a few added days and throw a wrench into the tournament bracket?
Convincing Pittsburgh, which was somehow touted as an NCAA tournament team in the days leading into these teams' first meeting, that this game matters might be a stretch. Not so for Notre Dame, which still has plenty to play for, and to prove.
-Big season for Markus Burton, even if few have noticed
-Notre Dame basketball looked different, for all the right reasons
-This season has gone from optimism to apologies for Notre Dame
-It may not mean a lot, but this win was something for Notre Dame
-Why does this Irish veteran remain on outside of rotation looking in?
-Markus Burton was Markus Burton and that was good for Notre Dame
-How do guys on the back end of the rotation stay motivated?
-In Tae Davis do the Irish trust
-Stunning? Not quite, since this was always part of the recruiting plan for Micah Shrewsberry
-Inside a memorable, magical night for one former Notre Dame team captain
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]