Jackson's shot wins it for Irish

Tory Jackson's game-winning basket with two seconds left reminded Notre Dame coach Mike Brey of Danny Ainge's winning basket against the Irish 28 years ago.

Ainge, who played for BYU, went from one end of the floor to the other through a number of Notre Dame players for the layup that gave the Cougars a 51-50 victory in the NCAA third round.

"We finally got the Danny Ainge play back 25 years later," he said.

Jackson drove the length of the floor after Dairese Gary made a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to tie the score at 68-68. In a crowd under the basket, Jackson put up an underhanded shot that fell in with two seconds left to give the Irish (20-14) the 70-68 home victory Thursday night in the second round of the NIT.

New Mexico's season ended at 22-12.

Jackson, who finished with 16 points, said afterward he had never heard of the Ainge play.

"It sounds good, though," he said.

Someone then asked if he knew about Tyus Edney's length-of-the-court drive and layup that beat the buzzer and gave UCLA a win over Missouri in the NCAA Tournament in 1995.

"That's a good one, but I'm still clueless," he said.

Jackson said he was looking for someone who was open but decided to take the shot with Gary defending him.

"I just felt like I could beat him, and it happened," he said. "I'm still shocked right now."

Irish forward Zach Hillesland credited Jackson's athletic ability for the game-winning shot. "He jumped the same time the other guy did and just longer and was able to get a shot off," Hillesland said.

Penn State 83, Rhode Island 72: Stanley Pringle scored 19 points, Andrew Jones had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Penn State withstood Rhode Island's backcourt pressure to advance to NIT quarterfinals.

The Nittany Lions (24-11) didn't hit a field goal the last 8:53 of the game, and the Rams (23-11) closed a 16-point deficit to 72-66 with about two minutes left. But Penn State sealed the win at the foul line, making 14 of 17 chances down the stretch.