Notre Dame's NCAA Tournament hopes fading fast following loss to Miami
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Assistant Sports Editor
MIAMI, Fla.
A dejected Troy Murphy sat on the floor at half-court of Miami Arena, his hands on his head and his sweat-drenched jersey pulled over his face.
"I was just thinking about the wasted opportunity," Murphy said. "It would have been a big win for us. I thought we had a golden opportunity here to win, to come down and play against Miami without their best player."
Murphy knew the Irish (16-12, 7-7) had slipped up on one of their final chances to win their way into the NCAA Tournament by losing a three-point heart-breaker against the Miami Hurricanes (18-9, 11-3) in the closing seconds,
"This was a very, very important game for both teams," Miami coach Leonard Hamilton said. "If we were going to win this game, Notre Dame was not going to give it to us."
Miami, tied for second place in the Big East, played without leading scorer Johnny Hemsley, who rode the bench for disciplinary reasons. His absence opened things up for the Irish, who have struggled on the road, losing nine of 12.
"We had a nice opportunity with Hemsley being out," Notre Dame head coach Matt Doherty said. "It made for a lovely game early. We got a nice lead, and then we didn't execute down the stretch, and that's disappointing because we've really worked on that and stressed it."
But a 12-point Notre Dame lead early in the second half waned when Miami hit three 3-point shots in a row. Turnovers again came to haunt the Irish, as they gave the ball up 22 times in the game, including a pivotal turnover by Murphy into Vernon Jennings' hands with under 30 seconds to play.
"Jimmy [Dillon] gave me a nice pass," Murphy said. "I tried to go baseline, but the guy made a nice defensive play. On the last trip down, we got two good looks at the basket, but they didn't fall. They're probably the best defensive team we've played this year."
The Irish played their hearts out in the game, leaving everything they had on the floor. But that didn't make the loss any easier to take.
"It's a tough thing to stomach," Murphy said. "It's dejecting. We don't have too many opportunities left."
Just a week ago, Notre Dame appeared a sure thing for the NCAA Tournament.
Notre Dame had risen to a solo spot in fifth place of the Big East standings. It had pulled off huge wins over two ranked conference opponents — Connecticut and Seton Hall, including on the road.
With the two wins, NCAA basketball experts at CBSSportsline.com and ESPN.com were projecting the Irish as either an eighth or a ninth seed in the 64-team tournament.
Since then, Notre Dame dropped a 10-point decision to basement-dweller Providence on Notre Dame's home court, followed by the three point loss at Miami.
Suddenly the Irish are tied for sixth place in the conference, leaving their hopes for March Madness very up in the air.
"I still like to think that if we can get a couple more wins, we still have a legitimate shot," Doherty said. "We've got a lot of quality wins, five wins over top 25 teams. Only one team in the country has more, Arizona with six."
But no matter how many quality wins, the Irish may have, the NCAA selection committee isn't likely to overlook a record that includes at least 12 losses.
The committee is going to look at upsets by Miami (Ohio), Pittsburgh and Providence. It's going to remember Notre Dame's late-season record, which stands at 2-4 in the last six games. It's going to consider Notre Dame's success, or lack thereof, on the road. And it will think about the Irish standings in the league.
Pollsters are predicting anywhere from four to seven Big East teams as NCAA qualifiers, with five or six being most likely.
Syracuse is secure in a top seeding for the tournament, at 23-3 overall and 12-2 in the league.
St. John's and Miami, both 11-3 in the league, are also shoo-ins for March Madness.
St. John's (20-6) has won seven straight, its last loss coming to Notre Dame in late January. It beat No. 2 Duke at Duke on Saturday, the first home loss to a non-conference opponent in five years for the Blue Devils.
"A game like that shows just how good the conference is," Murphy said, "For St. John's to go out and beat the No. 2 team in the country, Duke."
Miami is on a three-game winning streak and has risen to 18-9 on the season.
Seton Hall was considered a definite qualifier, but Villanova made things interesting by upsetting the Pirates Saturday. The win raised Villanova to a tie with Notre Dame in the Big East, making Villanova a possibility to make the tourney.
Connecticut is a favorite as the defending national champion. The Huskies are 8-6 in the conference and 19-8 overall. But the Irish defeated the Huskies twice, almost daring the selection committee to pick the Huskies while leaving the Irish out.
However, that isn't going to happen unless the Irish come through with some victories. No team with more than 14 losses has ever received an at-large tournament berth, a number Notre Dame is two away from. The Irish also need to finish at or more than .500 in the Big East to get a second look on selection Sunday.
Notre Dame has two conference games remaining, top-10 ranked Syracuse at home Wednesday and Georgetown on the road Saturday.
"I think we need to win two [games]," Doherty said after the loss to Providence. "I didn't say which two."
Despite the tough agenda, the Irish remain intent on heading to the Big Dance for the first time in 10 years.
"I think we would have to win our next two games, and then win a couple of games in the Big East."
They have the talent with a roster including a pre-season All-American in Murphy, backed up by sophomore forward David Graves, senior point guard Jimmy Dillon and a solid young supporting cast.
The Irish have the potential to score some major tourney upsets, like they have over Connecticut, Ohio State and St. John's. They could be this year's Cinderella team, sweeping through the tournament and knocking out the competition.
But they have to get there first.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 28, 2000
