Notre Dame beats Rutgers in double-OT to cap First Four

Updated Mar. 17, 2022 12:29 a.m. ET

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DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Paul Atkinson Jr.'s putback layup with 1.4 seconds left in the second overtime gave Notre Dame an 89-87 win over Rutgers in a wild First Four game Wednesday night.

Ron Harper Jr. tied it with a long 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in the second OT. Notre Dame's Blake Wesley then missed a shot before Atkinson grabbed the rebound and put back the winner.

Atkinson finished with 20 points, Nate Laszewski 18 and Cormac Ryan 16 to lead the Irish (23-10), who as the No. 11 seed advance to face sixth-seeded Alabama in a a first-round game Friday in San Diego.

Caleb McConnell had career-high 23 points and Ron Harper Jr. 22 for the Scarlet Knights (18-11).

Both teams shot a respectable 51% for the game.

McConnell scored 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor as Rutgers built a 41-36 lead at the half. He put the finishing touches on the scoring before intermission, going the length of the court and putting up a fast-break layup at the buzzer.

Rutgers went up by eight to open the second half on Harper's 3-pointer, but Notre Dame chipped away. The Irish got up by as many as five late before the game got tight again.

Geo Baker's 3-pointer tied it at 69 for Rutgers with 1:24 left. Rutgers got the ball back, but Harper and Baker both missed shots that would have given the Scarlet Knights the win in regulation.

BIG PICTURE

Notre Dame: Fought back from a halftime deficit, wouldn't go away and finally found a way to win it.

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights played well enough to win, but didn't take advantage of chances to put away the Irish.

UP NEXT

Notre Dame advances to a first-round game Friday against No. 6 Alabama in San Diego.

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More AP coverage of March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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