BIG EAST TOURNAMENT

The luck of the Irish is alive and well in New York.

The second-seeded and 16th-ranked Pitt Panthers became the third team with a double-bye to be ousted in their first game of the Big East Tournament on Thursday night, falling to seventh-seeded Notre Dame 50-45 in the tournament quarterfinals.

In a slow-paced and, at times, sloppy game for both teams, Notre Dame and its revamped ‘Burn’ offense put in place by head coach Mike Brey in response to the loss of Luke Harangody eked out the victory to advance to the semifinals to meet West Virginia on Friday night. The name ‘Burn’, as in ‘burning time from the clock’, did not ignite the Madison Square Garden crowd, as Notre Dame and Pitt scored 18 and 16 points respectively in the final 20 minutes of action.

After outscoring the Panthers 32-29 in the first half, Notre Dame slowed the pace of the game even further in the second half, scoring only 18 points and draining the shot clock as far as possible on nearly every possession. The Irish managed the feat using aggressive and consistent defense, as evidenced by the fact that their 18 points in the second half included a drought of almost nine minutes from the field.

In spite of the lack of action, the closing minutes were not without drama. Notre Dame’s Tory Jackson drained a 3-pointer with 3:26 remaining to give the Irish a six-point lead but Pitt would soon draw within two. That was as close as the Panthers would get. Harangody, who scored 12 points on the night, sank two free throws to extend the lead to four, effectively putting the game out of reach for the tournament’s second seed.