Old Dominion holds Harangody to four points and score the upset

The first upset of the day belongs to Old Dominion. Notre Dame had everything going their way, but they couldn’t score in the end. Luke Harangody had four points, and Notre Dame only shot 33 percent from the field.

Old Dominion outrebounded Notre Dame 16-15 in the second half, and they stayed patient on offense. The result was the Monarchs beating the Fighting Irish at their own game.

The Monarchs zone defense in the second half kept Notre Dame unbalanced and out of sorts. Ben Hansbrough was the only consistent outside threat, and the result was detrimental. The Irish missed a chance to tie the game with four seconds left, and Old Dominion hit the shots they neede to down the stretch, including two key free throws to make Notre Dame beat them with the 3-pointer.

The first upset of the day is the No. 11 seeded Old Dominion edged the No. 6 seeded Notre Dame 51-50. The Madness has officially begun.

Notre Dame is winning the rebound battle versus the fifth rebounding team in the nation through one half

Notre Dame plays at their tempo, and they eat a lot of clock. They also have played really well with Ben Hansbrough and Tyrone Nash to mix with Luke Harangody to end the season. These are the reasons I chose them to win.

However, Old Dominion is fifth in the nation in rebounding, and Notre Dame still needs to win the battle and stop second chance opportunities. They did in the first half. They outrebounded the Monarchs 20-13 and Ben Hansbrough scored ten points.

Old Dominion is going to need to force Notre Dame to speed the pace, and they must do what they have done all year, win the rebound battle. They hit a huge 3-pointer at the end of the half, but they allowed Notre Dame to run the floor and get a jump shot for two.

Notre Dame is winning the game by doing what they do best, slowing the pace and eating clock. Look for the Fighting Irish to force Old Dominion to play defense for 35 seconds every trip down the floor. Notre Dame 28, Old Dominion 22.