NEW YORK (AP) — Notre Dame had its first big win of the season almost wrapped up.The Fighting
Irish had a seemingly comfortable lead over No. 3 Ohio State with less than 2 minutes to play.Instead of
that signature win, Notre Dame wound up with a loss that could be hard to bounce back from, 64-61 on
Saturday night in the BlackRock Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden.“I am so thoroughly disappointed,”
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “We had such a good chance at such a great win.”Ohio State turned up the
defensive intensity to close the game on a 14-3 run.“I don’t really know what happened. It was a big blur,”
Ohio State senior guard Aaron Craft said. “We never stopped. We never gave up. Guys were running around
getting tips and guys made big free throws.”While a few players did come up with big defensive plays, it was
mostly one guy who made the free throws for the Buckeyes (12-0).Lenzelle Smith Jr. scored seven of his nine
points in the final 33 seconds — including going 5 of 5 at the line — to lead the rally.“I’m still trying to
figure out what happened,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “My mind was fixated on if we wanted to foul
with the time situation or do we play it out defensively and all of a sudden it was closer and closer and
closer and we get the lead. It happened quick, It was a great win.”The Buckeyes went 9:10 without a field
goal and at one point were 6 of 21 from the field as Notre Dame (8-4) opened up its lead.“I thought we did a
good job in the zone knowing the shooters and jamming the lane, keeping it to one and done,” Brey said. “And
then we got into such a good offensive rhythm to get some breathing room. But you are never going to be out
of the woods against a team like that.”Jerian Grant hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to give
the Fighting Irish a 58-50 advantage with 1:54 to play.The Buckeyes converted consecutive steals into a
58-56 deficit with 40 seconds to go.Demetrius Jackson made two free throws for Notre Dame a second
later.Smith was fouled taking a 3-pointer and he made all three free throws to bring Ohio State within 60-59
with 32 seconds left.Steve Vasturia, who was in the game because point guard Eric Atkins had fouled out,
missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 31 seconds left, his first free throw attempt of the season.Smith
scored down low on a nice pass by Craft to give the Buckeyes a 61-60 lead with 16 seconds to go. After a
Notre Dame turnover, Smith made two free throws for a 63-60 lead with 9.8 seconds left.Grant made one free
throw with 6.7 seconds left and Craft made one free throw with 3.3 seconds left.Jackson missed a potential
tying 3 as the buzzer sounded.“They really turned the heat up on us and flustered us. We had a hard time
doing anything right,” Brey said. “We didn’t have Atkins, but the other guys should have handled it
better.”LaQuinton Ross had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Ohio State while Amir Williams had 13 points and
Shannon Scott and Craft both added 10.Grant had 18 points for Notre Dame, which committed five of its 13
turnovers in the final 2 minutes, while Garrick Sherman had 14 and Pat Connaughton 13.“I’m a senior and I
have to find a way to not turn the ball over when we didn’t have our point guard in there,” Grant said.The
Buckeyes shot 34.5 percent in the second half (10 of 29, including missing all nine 3-point attempts). They
went 9:10 without a field goal in the second half, and that’s when Notre Dame opened a 52-44 lead with 5:33
to play.Williams dunked on the next possession to end Ohio State’s long drought.Notre Dame opened the second
half on a 9-2 run that tied the game at 35. The run was started by a 3-pointer by Atkins, the Fighting
Irish’s first in seven attempts from beyond the arc.“I love how we fought and competed in a road atmosphere
but we didn’t finish it,” Brey said.OHIO STATE 64, NOTRE DAME 61NOTRE DAMEConnaughton 6-11 0-0 13, Sherman
6-12 2-4 14, Atkins 3-6 3-4 10, Grant 7-11 3-5 18, Jackson 1-6 2-2 5, Beachem 0-0 0-0 0, Burgett 0-0 0-0 0,
Knight 0-2 1-3 1, Auguste 0-3 0-0 0, Vasturia 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 23-51 11-19 61.OHIO STATERoss 7-16 1-3 16,
A. Williams 6-10 1-2 13, Scott 3-8 2-2 10, Craft 3-5 4-6 10, Smith Jr. 2-6 5-5 9, Loving 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson
2-6 2-2 6, Della Valle 0-3 0-0 0, McDonald 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-55 15-20 64.Halftime—Ohio St. 33-26. 3-Point
Goals—Notre Dame 4-14 (Grant 1-2, Atkins 1-3, Jackson 1-4, Connaughton 1-5), Ohio St. 3-18 (Scott 2-7, Ross
1-5, Della Valle 0-1, Thompson 0-2, Smith Jr. 0-3). Fouled Out—Atkins. Rebounds—Notre Dame 33 (Connaughton
8), Ohio St. 34 (Ross 11). Assists—Notre Dame 8 (Grant 4), Ohio St. 12 (Scott 6). Total Fouls—Notre Dame 18,
Ohio St. 18. A—10,138.