

(3) Notre Dame (28-6) vs. (1) West Virginia (31-3)
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
March 14th, 2036
No. 1 West Virginia (31-3) captured their seventh consecutive Big East Tournament Championship and won their 12th consecutive game this evening with a dominating 91-63 blowout of No. 3-seeded Notre Dame (28-6).
The Fighting Irish, who defeated the Mountaineers earlier this season 78-75 in South Bend, never really made tonight's game competitive as the Mountaineers took control of the game from the opening tip. The Mountaineers led 47-29 at halftime and little changed in the second half as they led by double-digits throughout and led by as many as 30 points late in the game.
After struggling last night, Nik Buscher erupted for 30 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks this evening. The junior 7'3" center shot 15/23 from the field. Felipe Delgado also added 16 points and seven rebounds for West Virginia and Stefon Hull came off the bench to hit five three-pointers and total 19 points and four steals.
Corbin Hicks just missed out on a double-double for Notre Dame with 19 points and nine assists. Austen Simon added 13 points and senior forward Ricky Bates tallied 11 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists.
West Virginia only turned the basketball over five times tonight and shot 49% (35/71) from the floor. The Mountaineers also outrebounded Notre Dame 35-23 and held a 71-52 advantage in field goals attempted.
"This is a special team," remarked West Virginia head coach James Frizzell after the game. "We had a special team last year, and we brought most everyone back and added some new talent. We're another year older and another year wiser. We hit some rough patches mid-season, but we've really came into form over the last 10 games or so. This is an experienced team, and we know this is the time of year you have to really start putting things together for a run in March, and that's exactly what we've done.
"We're in a good position to make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament, and we're going to be satisfied with nothing short of another national championship."
With the win, the Mountaineers are a near lock for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers are ranked first in the AP and Coaches' Polls, and are also ranked first in the RPI rankings.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. West Virginia Mountaineers | |||
Mar 15, 2036 | 1ST | 2ND | SCORE |
#3 Notre Dame (28-6) | 29 | 34 | 63 |
#1 West Virginia (31-3) | 47 | 44 | 91 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish | |||||||||||
STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | |
C. Hicks | 34 | 5-8 | 4-5 | 5-6 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 19 | |
A. Simon | 31 | 6-10 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
A. Gates | 35 | 1-8 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
R. Bates | 30 | 5-11 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
A. Ozier | 35 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | |
Q. Rivers | 12 | 3-8 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
P. Braxton | 12 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
K. Chambers | 12 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
D. Gomez | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
D. Dobbins | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
T. Kemp | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
P. Higgins | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
TEAM TOTALS | 24-52 | 6-12 | 9-13 | 23 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 63 |
West Virginia Mountaineers | ||||||||||
STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
D. Pasco | 30 | 3-5 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
B. Clement | 24 | 0-6 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
C. Rickert | 25 | 2-8 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
F. Delgado | 30 | 5-10 | 4-6 | 2-2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
N. Buscher | 30 | 15-23 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 30 |
BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
T. Blackshear | 4 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
B. Mombollet | 10 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
S. Hull | 25 | 7-15 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
C. Lavender | 7 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
M. Filipovic | 10 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
G. Neale | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
B. Plummer | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
TEAM TOTALS | 35-71 | 14-32 | 7-8 | 35 | 19 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 91 |
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