Notre Dame holds off Oklahoma St. in OT in Legends Classic

Field Level Media|published: Fri 17th November, 19:21 2023

Nov 17, 2023; Brookyln, NY, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Tae Davis (13) looks to shoot the ball against Oklahoma State Cowboys forward Justin McBride (21) during the first half at Barclays Center. credits: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Markus Burton scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half and overtime, and Notre Dame escaped with a 66-64 win against Oklahoma State in the third-place game Friday at the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in New York.

Julian Roper II had 12 points and eight rebounds and J.R. Konieczny finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Notre Dame (2-2).

Javon Small scored 27 of his 29 points in the second half and overtime and John-Michael Wright contributed 11 points overall for Oklahoma State (1-3).

The Fighting Irish did not score in the final four minutes of the second half or the first 1:27 of overtime, allowing the Cowboys to creep to a four-point lead.

Burton's 3-point play cut it to 62-61 with 2:19 left in overtime, and his two free throws gave the Fighting Irish a 63-62 lead with 1:35 remaining.

After both teams traded turnovers, Small missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Konieczny and Burton made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 5.7 seconds to hold off the Cowboys.

Small scored 16 straight points in the second half, the final three on a favorable bounce off a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 55-54 with 59 seconds left.

Eric Dailey Jr. had a chance to win the game for Oklahoma State but missed the second of two free throws with 9.3 seconds left to leave the score 55-55, and Notre Dame could not convert on the other end, sending the game into overtime.

The Cowboys prevented Notre Dame from extending its advantage into double digits until Tae Davis converted a 3-point play for a 44-33 lead with 14:11 remaining.

Brandon Garrison ended the 8-0 run by making one of two free throws, but the Cowboys went 6:21 between field goals and couldn't cut the deficit to single digits until Quion Williams scored off an offensive rebound to make it 46-38 with 9:40 left.

Roper scored seven points in a 12-0 run that moved the Fighting Irish ahead 29-21 with 3:52 left in the half, and they maintained the eight-point margin at the break.

Oklahoma State played without their best player, senior guard Bryce Thompson, who sustained a leg injury in the 66-64 loss to St. Bonaventure in the semifinals on Thursday. Thompson had combined for 36 points on 14-of-26 shooting in the first two games of the season.

The Cowboys also were without 6-foot-10 starting center Mike Marsh for undisclosed reasons.

—Field Level Media

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