Irish win seventh straight
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
Forward Ryan Humphrey hobbled through the final seconds on a sprained ankle Sunday, managing to hold onto a rebound at the buzzer as his one-legged play carried Notre Dame to victory and the Irish carried the injured Humphrey off the court.
Humphrey blocked a 3-point attempt by West Virginia's Tobias Seldon in the final 20 seconds, spraining his ankle on the way down. The 6-foot-8 junior hopped his way through the Mountaineers' last possession on one foot.
"When it happened, I felt like I got shot," Humphrey said. "I knew I had to get up because it would have been four on five if I had just laid on the ground. I think I would have felt worse if I had left my teammates to try to win the game without me."
After West Virginia rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Josh Yeager, Mountaineer guard Tim Lyles threw up another 3-point attempt. Humphrey grabbed the board, and the Irish survived 69-66 for their seventh straight league victory, four more than the school record prior to this season.
Irish reserves carried Humphrey, who will have his ankle examined this morning, to the locker room.
"It's very sore," Humphrey said. "We have to play it by ear. If it's all right, I'll play Wednesday night."
Notre Dame (16-5, 8-2 Big East) came from behind to win despite a wild West Virginia (13-8, 4-6) crowd and foul trouble by Notre Dame post players Harold Swanagan (who fouled out), Troy Murphy and Humphrey. With the victory, the Irish remained a full game in front of Syracuse in the race for the Big East West Division title.
With the Mountaineers keeping the ball away from All-American Murphy, Irish guards Martin Ingelsby and Matt Carroll picked up the slack.
"Our first option is always to go inside," Carroll said. "Teams aren't going to let us do that sometimes. Troy, Ryan and Harold are very unselfish, and they kicked it back out."
Ingelsby, a senior point guard, drove the team to success with a team-high 17 points, including 5-for-7 shooting from behind the arc. He stole the show and the win from West Virginia with three steals, including one in the final minute of play.
"They really did a good job double-teaming Troy in the post," Ingelsby said. "My man kind of sagged in, and I was able to get some open shots."
For his part, Carroll put up 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting. He also put the defensive clamp down on hot-handed Brooks Berry, who scored a career high 21 points, 18 of which came in the first half.
After the Irish took an early 19-11 lead on a trey by Ingelsby, the Mountaineers took over with a dominant performance on the boards and a 17-3 run. West Virginia held onto the lead nearly the entire rest of the game.
"We've been in that situation before," Ingelsby said. "I don't think anyone on our team had a doubt we were going to win the game. We just stayed poised throughout and we came out with a big win."
Murphy finally tied the score at 60 with two free throws and 3:23 to play.
Although West Virginia pulled off a 41-32 rebounding edge in the game, Murphy — playing with four fouls — grabbed the next board on a Chris Moss miss.
With nothing working for the Irish, Ingelsby pushed the ball up the lane, pump faking and forcing Lyles to foul him. The captain then nailed both free throws to give the Irish a 62-60 lead.
At the other end, Swanagan picked up his fifth and final foul. Calvin Bowman, who scored 18 for West Virginia, had the shooter's touch, as both foul shots bounced off the front rim and through the hoop.
When Harold fouled out, that was a big blow," Humphrey said. "It meant that me and Troy both had to stay in the game. We would give up the easy layup rather than pick up the extra foul. But when it's that tight, you have to lay everything out on the line. At that point, you still have to be aggressive."
The Irish, who didn't go to the charity stripe once the whole first half, returned to the line, as junior David Graves was fouled. Graves, limited to eight points on the night, continued a perfect 6-for-6 afternoon at the line by hitting both free throws.
Bowman nailed a basket in the lane and the follow-up free throw as Humphrey fouled him. The 3-point play gave West Virginia a 65-64 lead, its last of the game.
Murphy tipped in an Ingelsby miss for two of his 15 points. The bucket counted, but Humphrey picked up his fourth foul on the play by nailing Bowman, who made one of two free throws to tie the score with 1:16 to go.
Ingelsby missed a driving shot, but Murphy snagged one of his 10 rebounds. Moss fouled Murphy on the putback, his fifth foul. Murphy missed the front end, but swished the second shot for a 67-66 lead.
Ingelsby swiped the ball from the Mountaineers on a bounce pass from Berry. Graves was fouled at the top of the key, and dropped in both free throws. His foul shots put the Irish ahead 69-66 with :26.7 to play for the final margin of victory.
Notre Dame's defense, a stumbling block in the early season, again came up big. After a 52 percent Mountaineer shooting mark in the first half, the Irish limited their opponents to 26 percent in the second stanza.
"In the first half, we didn't play defense like we have in the past," Ingelsby said. "They played well. They hit some big shots today. We just buckled down defensively in the last couple minutes."
Next up for the Irish is a road date with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-11, 2-8) on Wednesday night.
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 12, 2001
