'Relentless' Auguste, Colson lead Notre Dame past Duke 84-79
WASHINGTON (AP) - Trailing Duke by 16 points in the second half at the ACC Tournament, Notre Dame didn't think it was done.
"We knew," Bonzie Colson insisted, "our run was coming."
Using coach Mike Brey's switch from zone defense to man-to-man to great effect, and dominating inside thanks to Colson and Zach Auguste, defending conference tourney champion Notre Dame came all the way back to beat reigning NCAA champ Duke 84-79 in overtime in the ACC quarterfinals Thursday.
"Today was the ultimate 'backs against the wall,'" Brey said. "But I'm really not surprised, 'cause when they get believing and talking and running themselves, they're pretty darn good."
Auguste had 19 points and 22 rebounds, while Colson added 12 points and 12 rebounds.
"They were relentless," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "and that's what they do, those two kids."
V.J. Beachem scored 19 points, including a couple of key 3s late in the second half and another in the extra period, for Notre Dame (21-10), which also beat Duke a year ago en route to winning the league tourney and earlier this season at Cameron Indoor Stadium. In all, the Fighting Irish have now won five of the teams' last six meetings.
Grayson Allen led Duke (23-10) with 27 points, but there wasn't much help, in part because of foul trouble. Plus, playing for the second time in about 24 hours, the Blue Devils simply seemed spent.
"Our guys in a short period of time were so well-prepared and so together and then: Boom!" Krzyzewski said. "I'm telling you, the not-hitting-shots, it affects a younger team more. It did today."
In Friday's semifinals, Notre Dame will take on No. 7 North Carolina, the team it beat in last season's conference tournament final. UNC advanced by beating Pittsburgh 88-71 earlier Thursday.
Notre Dame won its only meeting with the Tar Heels this season, back in January, although Brey cautioned: "They're better than when we played them. It really comes down to controlling the paint and rebounding."
Trailing 64-48 midway through the second half, Notre Dame managed to claw its way back into the game as Duke's high-powered offense went silent. Auguste's inside basket with 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation made it 64-62, and during that 14-0 run for Notre Dame, Duke went scoreless for 7 1/2 minutes, going 0 for 8 on field-goal tries, 0 for 4 at the line.
"Those 6 to 8 minutes," Krzyzewski said, "we were really young."
While the fourth-seeded Fighting Irish got a double-bye and were making their tourney debut, Duke had to get past North Carolina State in the second round on Wednesday.
Could Notre Dame sense Duke was exhausted?
"We definitely felt that," Auguste said. "We had an advantage there. If we kept pushing, they'd eventually slow down and break down."
Exactly what happened.
"I do think Duke was a little tired," Brey said.
That probably contributed to this key stat: Duke made only 30 percent of its field-goal attempts after halftime.
"We just weren't ourselves the last 10 minutes of the game," Blue Devils reserve Chase Jeter said. "It feels like we gave the game away."
REBOUNDING
Auguste's 22 rebounds tied Tim Duncan (1996, Wake Forest) for the second-most in an ACC Tournament game. N.C. State's Jim Richter had 23 in 1959.
FOUL TROUBLE
Marshall Plumlee, the 7-foot center for Duke who was wearing a mask a day after breaking his nose, finished with only two points and four rebounds before fouling out. Jeter picked up his fifth in overtime, as did Allen, while star freshman Brandon Ingram was stuck with four fouls in the late going.
TIP-INS
Duke: Lost four of its last seven games. ... When Matt Jones made a 3 in the first half, it was his 70th of the season, making him, Allen and Ingram the first trio in school history with at least that many in the same season.
Notre Dame: Won at home against UNC 80-76 in February. ... Colson's double-double was his third of the season.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame: Plays top-seeded North Carolina on Friday.
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