Feb. 16, 1997

Notre Dame Can’t Muster Up Win at Nova

PHILADELPHIA — Alvin Williams scored 25 points and Tim Thomas added 22 to lead18th-ranked Villanova to a 75-70 victory over Notre Dame and asweep of the Big East series.

Villanova (18-7, 9-5 Big East 6) rebounded from back-to-backlosses to Kentucky and Pittsburgh and tied Boston College forfirst-place in the Big East 6.

Pat Garrity led Notre Dame (12-10, 6-8 Big East 6) with 22points.

A basket by Thomas with 11:18 remaining gave Villanova itsbiggest lead at 48-40. But Garrity hit a three-pointer toignite a 9-3 run which pulled Notre Dame within 51-49 with 7:17left.

Villanova scored the next five points on a jumper by freshmanBrian Lynch and a three-pointer by Williams to increase its leadto 56-49.

The Wildcats held a 70-64 advantage after a pair of free throwsby Jason Lawson with 21.3 seconds left. But Notre Damethreatened with a late run.

Antoni Wyche hit a three-pointer with 13.1 seconds left to cutVillanova’s lead to 70-67. After Williams converted the secondof two free throws, Admore White connected on a three-pointerwith 7.1 seconds remaining to pull the Fighting Irish within71-70.

Williams converted a pair of free throws to give Villanova a73-70 advantage. Notre Dame had a chance to tie the game, butWhite was called for a double dribble with 2.3 seconds left.Thomas added a pair of free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining toseal the win.

Villanova used an 8-0 run to build a 29-21 lead in the firsthalf. A tip-in by Thomas with 6:10 left capped the run. NotreDame responded with an 11-2 spurt to take a 32-31 advantage withtwo minutes remaining. Villanova closed the half with athree-pointer by Lynch and a jumper by Thomas to take a 36-32lead.

Matt Gotsch had 17 points and White finished with 12 points and10 assists for Notre Dame.

Villanova has won five of the last six meetings with Notre Dameand leads the all-time series, 11-7. Thomas scored 18 pointsand Williams added 16 to lead the Wildcats to a 68-57 victory atNotre Dame on January 14.

NOTRE DAME (70)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpManner          33   1-3   4-5   1-3  2  1    6Garrity         40 10-16   0-0   0-4  2  2   22Gotsch          29   4-7  9-10   0-2  0  3   17White           36  5-10   0-2   1-2 10  4   12Miller          27   2-4   0-0   0-3  1  4    5Young            5   0-0   0-0   1-1  0  1    0Wyche           13   3-4   0-0   0-1  1  4    8Bell             1   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  0    0Lalazarian       5   0-2   0-0   1-1  1  1    0Dillon           4   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  0    0Hickey           7   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 25-46 13-17  4-19 17 20   70_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.543, FT-.765. 3-Point Goals:7-13, .538 (Garrity 2-5, White 2-3, Miller 1-2,Wyche 2-3). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 6(Gotsch 5, Garrity). Turnovers: 19 (White 6,Garrity 5, Manner 3, Dillon, Gotsch, Lalazarian,Miller, Young). Steals: 6 (Miller 2, White 2,Garrity, Lalazarian).VILLANOVA (75)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpThomas          36  8-14   4-4   1-4  5  3   22Kornegay        20   2-2   0-0   0-2  0  4    4Lawson          31   2-9   6-6   2-4  1  3   10Celestand       16   0-0   0-0   0-0  2  1    0Williams        39  9-15   5-7   1-3  7  3   25Brown           13   1-4   0-0   0-0  1  0    2Bigus            5   0-1   0-0   0-1  0  2    0Allen           23   2-4   1-2   1-5  0  4    5Lynch           17   3-4   0-0   1-4  1  0    7_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 27-53 16-19  6-23 17 20   75_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.509, FT-.842. 3-Point Goals:5-11, .455 (Thomas 2-5, Williams 2-5, Lynch 1-1).Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 6 (Allen 3,Lawson, Williams, Thomas). Turnovers: 15 (Lawson5, Thomas 3, Celestand 2, Lynch 2, Williams 2,Kornegay). Steals: 13 (Williams 6, Brown 3, Lynch2, Kornegay, Thomas).__________________________________Notre Dame         32   38  -   70Villanova          36   39  -   75__________________________________Technical fouls: None.  A: 19,372. Officials:John Cahill, Tom Hutchinson, Mike Kitts.