He had the ball in his hands and the momentum on his side, but even as he flew up the floor Notre Dame point guard Tory Jackson had no intention of taking the final shot.
Down two points after Georgetown’s Jeff Green put the Hoyas in front with what he termed a “lucky shot” and an ensuing free throw, the Irish were playing to win.
And they almost made it happen.
Jackson dished off to senior Russell Carter, who pump-faked, avoided the defense of Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing Jr. and fired off a three-pointer from the top of the key.
But the shot fell short and Notre Dame (24-7) walked off the floor with an 84-82 loss to top-seeded Georgetown (25-6) in the semifinals of the Big East tournament Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Hoyas advance to Saturday night’s championship game against No. 13 Pittsburgh. Antonio Graves was 7-for-11 from the field and finished with 23 points and Mike Cook added 13 points as the Panthers (27-6) defeated No. 12 Louisville 65-59.
Terrence Williams scored 18 points to lead the Cardinals (23-9), who blew a 37-26 halftime lead and shot just 39.3 percent for the game.
But though the Irish were down, this year they know they aren’t out.
“We’re very disappointed now because we had a chance, and I thought we gave ourselves every chance to win the basketball game,” Irish coach Mike Brey said. “But our heads will be up by tomorrow morning and we’ll be excited about playing again because we’re getting better and I think playing really well at the right time.”
Indeed, for the first time in four years, the Irish can rest in the certainty that their name will be called when the NCAA tournament brackets are announced Sunday.
“In the Brey house, Selection Sunday is really Christmas,” Brey said. “It has not been a great Christmas the last three years. But we’re going to have a big Christmas party and get the tree out.”
What the Irish walked away with Friday night was the knowledge they can play with any team in the country.
“There are not many teams as good as Georgetown in the country, if anyone,” said senior shooting guard Colin Falls, who finished with 14 points. “We’re not hanging our heads.”
When these two teams played on Jan. 6, Georgetown put 18 points on the board before the Irish managed their first field goal. Notre Dame wasn’t willing to allow the Hoyas that sort of running start this time.
Other than a brief 2-2 tie, Notre Dame led from the beginning of the first half to the end, countering Georgetown’s 51.7 percent first-half efficiency from the floor by connecting on 57.1 percent of their three-point attempts, even pushing their lead as high as 14 points.
The Irish, though, knew the Hoyas wouldn’t fold. And they didn’t.
After a 10-2 run in the final 2 minutes 6 seconds of the first half, they cut Notre Dame’s lead to 46-44.
And in the second half, the Hoyas extended their perimeter defense, holding the Irish to just 2 of 12 from beyond the arc.
“If you give guys who can make shots an open look, it’s going to go in,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “We just were a lot more attentive in the second half to not letting them get shots or at least not open shots, and they still beat us going to the basket, which Tory almost did [himself] going to the basket.”
Single-handedly.
With Georgetown up 76-69 and the Irish in the midst of a three-minute scoreless streak, Jackson reeled off seven straight in the span of 79 seconds to tie the game 76-76.
Jackson finished with 20 points, just one less than Carter, who led the team with 21.
Green was unstoppable for the Hoyas, scoring a game-high 30.
And though the Irish ultimately fell short, “I’ll say what I told our guys after we beat Marquette (Feb. 24),” Brey said. “Dream big dreams. We didn’t win it, but we had the state of mind to go for it. I want us dreaming big dreams.”
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apatel@tribune.com
