2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Basketball: Notre Dame vs Marquette

Two and a half weeks ago, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were buried. Evidently, they were never fully dead.

It's been an amazing journey for one particular basketball team since Feb. 17. In a relatively short time, a band of brothers has gone from being a sure-fire NIT team to a likely - though not yet guaranteed - NCAA Tournament participant. Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee, Coach Mike Brey's ballclub engineered a resurrection that's been a microcosm of 17 special days in the life of Notre Dame basketball.

The Fighting Irish, on Feb. 17, were 6-8 in the Big East and had no reason to think they could work their way back into NCAA contention... not without star big man Luke Harangody, felled by injury at the worst possible time of the season. Not with four tough conference opponents waiting on the slate. Not after losing games to the likes of Rutgers, Seton Hall and St. John's. Yet, precisely when Harangody left the lineup, the rest of the Irish perked up their attitudes and picked up their level of play on the court.

Down went Pittsburgh.

Down went Georgetown on the road in D.C.

Down went Connecticut earlier this past week.

Suddenly standing at 9-8 in the conference, the Irish had fresh reason to think they could still put on their Dancing shoes and crack the field of 65, but they still needed to win at Marquette in order to feel reasonably confident heading into the Big East Tournament. When the homestanding Golden Eagles took a 51-45 lead with one minute remaining in regulation, it appeared that the dream would die for the gallant and gritty but not-quite-there club that pushed itself to the limit.

However, just as this team beat back overwhelming odds to merely get to the doorstep of an NCAA tourney ticket, it climbed the mountain one more time on an emotional afternoon at the Bradley Center.

Notre Dame hit only 3 of 21 3-pointers in this game, so the notion of erasing a six-point deficit in one minute - all while keeping coach Buzz Williams' MU crew off the scoreboard - seemed almost laughable.

Yet, the Irish have established something very clearly in recent weeks: They never, ever quit. They might have hit only three triples all day, but in the final minute of regulation, they nailed two of them. Tim Abromaitis hit the first one with 51 seconds left to make the score 51-48. After Marquette's Lazar Hayward missed a jumper with 16 seconds left, the Irish got the ball back with a chance to tie. Abromaitis missed a tying trey with five seconds on the clock, but after an offensive rebound, ND's Carleton Scott - who missed a game-ending, do-or-die three versus Seton Hall a few weeks ago - nailed a shot from the top of the key with one second left. The impossible had become reality, and suddenly, the Irish had yet another renewed outlook on life.

In overtime, a massive wave of momentum swept over a flustered Marquette team, as Notre Dame shut out the Golden Eagles in the first four minutes of the five-minute period. By then hitting 7 of 8 foul shots in the final minute, the Irish held on for a three-point win.

That's a resurrection if one has ever been seen.

Touchdown Jesus - standing over the Notre Dame campus - must have found a new favorite sport on Saturday. Notre Dame's not a lock for the Big Dance, but the Irish are now on the good side of the bubble, without question.

Notre Dame vs Marquette Basketball Recap