Notre Dame won’t be sneaking up on any more opponents this season.
The unranked Fighting Irish won their third straight game over a ranked team, upsetting No. 2 Texas 98-92 on Sunday in the championship game of the BB&T Classic.
“We came into Washington off the radar screen,” Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey said. “We are going to be all over the radar screen now.”
In a matchup of two of the nation’s best point guards, Notre Dame’s Chris Thomas got the better of Texas’ T.J. Ford down the stretch.
Thomas finished with 19 points and eight assists and made two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to give Notre Dame (8-1) a 96-92 lead.
The Longhorns (5-1) erased a 13-point second-half deficit and led by five with three minutes remaining, but Thomas’ 3-pointer with 2:06 left gave the Irish an 85-83 lead they never relinquished.
Ford, who led the nation in assists last season as a freshman, had 21 points and 11 assists and was named tournament MVP. Down the stretch he had a layup blocked, turned the ball over and missed a 3-pointer that could have brought Texas within a point in the final seconds.
The Irish were 13-of-27 from 3-point range, and the Longhorns fared even better, going 14-of-25. Sydmill Harris, who scored a career-high 25 points for Texas, and Brian Boddicker shot a combined 10-of-11 from 3-point range.
The loss will probably drop the Longhorns in the Top 25 and ruin the chance of a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup as Texas visits top-ranked Arizona next Sunday.
MEN’S TOP 25 RESULTS
– 8. Florida (6-2) beat South Florida 68-52
– 9. Maryland (4-2) beat G. Washington 93-82
– 20. Minnesota (4-1) lost to Nebraska 80-60
– 21. Michigan St. (4-2) beat Cleve. St. 79-47
WOMEN’S TOP 25 RESULTS
– 1. Duke (7-0) beat Saint Joseph’s 82-48
– 3. UConn (7-0) beat Southern Cal. 68-44
– 12. Minnesota (7-0) beat Harvard 92-68
– 14. Georgia (4-2) beat Oakland, Mich. 99-56
– 16. UNC (6-1) beat Old Dominion 90-54
21. Arizona (3-1) beat Illinois 75-73
