No. 20 Notre Dame 69, Rutgers 66: Jack Cooley notched his 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Scott Martin drew a late charge to preserve a one-point lead as the host Fighting Irish survived.
After Eli Carter pulled Rutgers to within 67-66 with eight seconds remaining, the Scarlet Knights forced a jump ball when they trapped Eric Atkins before he could call timeout as Notre Dame (15-3, 3-2 Big East) was attempting to inbound the ball.
Rutgers (12-5, 3-3) gained possession, but on the ensuing inbounds play, Martin drew a questionable charge call on Carter’s drive with two seconds remaining. Atkins sank two free throws moments later and Myles Mack’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer sailed wide.
Pat Connaughton hit a season-high four 3-pointers en route to a 17-point performance while Jerian Grant matched a career high with 10 assists for Notre Dame, which avoided its first three-game slide since Feb. 11-17, 2010.
Carter snapped a three-game scoring drought with 20 points for Rutgers, which missed starting 4-2 in Big East for the first time since joining the conference.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Notre Dame improved to 47-2 over its last 49 home games. … Rutgers dropped its 19th straight game on the road against a ranked opponent. … The Irish matched a season high with 16 turnovers, but shot a season-high 88.2 percent (15-of-17) from the foul line.
Rutgers | Notre Dame | |
Eli Carter 20 | Scoring | Jack Cooley 19 |
Dane Miller 5 | Assists | Jerian Grant 10 |
Dane Miller 9 | Rebounds | Jack Cooley 10 |
Myles Mack 2 | Free Throws Made | Jack Cooley 5 |
Myles Mack 3 | Steals | Eric Atkins 2 |
Dane Miller 3 | Blocks | Pat Connaughton 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Rutgers | 66 | 45.9 | 4-12 | 6-7 | 15 | 27 | 4 | 11 | 15 |
Notre Dame | 69 | 49.0 | 6-16 | 15-17 | 19 | 23 | 2 | 6 | 16 |