Alabama Men’s Basketball Upsets No. 17 Notre Dame, 74-73

The Alabama men’s basketball team earned its second upset over a top-25 team in three days, taking down No.17 Notre Dame, 74-73, on Sunday night at the AdvoCare Invitational. Senior guard Retin Obasohan finished with a game-high 19 points, and converted a last-second layup to secure the victory.

Alabama (4-2) had not won consecutive games against ranked opponents since they defeated then-No. 12 Florida on Feb. 26, 2006, after downing then-No.8 Tennessee on Feb. 18.

Obasohan and junior Shannon Hale led the Tide with 19 points apiece, while graduate transfer Arthur Edwards finished with a career-high 15 points. Junior forward Michael Kessens led the team with nine rebounds to go along with eight points off the bench. Alabama was forced to play the final minutes without starters Dazon Ingram and Jimmie Taylor, who fouled out, along with key reserve Riley Norris who was injured in the first half and did not return.

Alabama began the game on fire as Edwards’ sparked an 18-3 run over 5:20 of the first half, including a 13-0 stretch. Notre Dame (4-2) went 0-of-5 from the field as the Tide took a 21-8 lead on 3-of-3 shooting from deep.

Notre Dame answered with a 7-0 run of its own to close the gap to just five points, down 25-20 at the 8:51 mark. The Tide started 4-of-4 from three-point range, but then missed four straight attempts from behind the arc. Alabama used a 6-0 run with 6:38 left in the first half to push the score to 35-28. Notre Dame fought back though, and the teams were separated by just four points at halftime with the Tide leading, 43-39.

Edwards provided the offensive spark for the Tide throughout the opening 20 minutes, finishing the half a perfect 6-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three-point range.

The Irish started hot in the second half, using a 10-2 run to take a 49-45 lead with 17:18 to play. From that point on the teams were never separated by more than three points in a game that featured eight ties and nine lead changes.

Notre Dame held a one-point lead, up 73-72, with 28.6 seconds left in the game when forward Zach Auguste, who finished with 16 points, had a chance to pad the Irish’s lead at the free throw line. However, he missed both free throw attempts and Alabama called a timeout with 23.5 seconds to play. The Tide couldn’t get anything going out of the timeout, so head coach Avery Johnson called another with 12.6 seconds to play.

Obasohan got the ball out of the timeout, drove the baseline as the clock wound down and put in a layup with eight seconds on the clock to give Alabama a 74-73 lead. Demetrius Jackson rushed the ball down the court and attempted a layup for the Irish at the other end, but the Tide controlled the rebound as the buzzer sounded to give the Tide its second win over a ranked opponent in three days.

Steve Vasturia totaled 18 points for Notre Dame and Jackson joined Auguste with 16. Auguste led the Irish with 10 rebounds.

Alabama is back in action on Friday as it travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., on Friday, Dec. 4, to take on Southern Miss. The contest is scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.