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We have two games that had final scores that definitely didn't represent the whole experience.
#25 Notre Dame 51, #20 Pittsburgh 42 - Notre Dame led this game 1-0 as late as the 16:36 mark of the first half. We didn't get a field goal until 16:14 remaining when Trey Zeigler got a layup for the Panthers. That was part of a 19-2 run that took nearly nine and a half minutes to unfold and was capped off by two free throws by Tray Woodall after ND head coach Mike Brey got whistled for a technical foul. Pitt got whistled for two fouls on the ensuing possession, Pat Connaughton hit back to back threes and all of a sudden, I felt bad for jinxing Pitt's chances at keeping ND under 10 for the half.
The Irish closed the half on a 16-3 run, and then (relatively) blew Pitt out in the second half, outscoring the Panthers by the score of 32-20. What the hell, people? And I mean that for both teams. One Foot Down and Cardiac Hill have more reactions for you.
Villanova 71, Rutgers 63 - Seems like a standard Big East score, right? Middle of the pack team guts out eight point win over bottom end team, blah blah blah. Except Rutgers had a 9-0 run in the middle of the first half that propelled them to a 10 point lead at the intermission and they did all that without leading scorer Eli Carter, who will miss the rest of the season with a fractured fibula. Then, a second half Wildcats 10-0 run gave Nova a lead that they would not relinquish. I was pulled away from the TV and came back find the lead essentially reversed from when I had left. Very disconcerting. It's quite the strong performance that a bubble team like Villanova needed heading in to a big time game with Marquette on Saturday. VU Hoops and On The Banks can tell you more.