Jackson scores clutch baskets to lead Notre Dame to 65-62 win over South Florida

Notre Dame holds on to beat South Florida 65-62

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Luke Harangody hit a pair of free throws with 4 seconds left to finish with 19 points and Tory Jackson scored nine of his 18 points in the final 5:40, driving inside repeatedly, to lead Notre Dame to a 65-62 victory over South Florida on Sunday.

Jarrid Famous had a chance to tie it with a free throw with 8.3 seconds left after he scored on a dunk, but missed. After Harangody’s free throws, Dominique Jones missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Bulls (15-8, 5-6 Big East) saw their league winning streak end at four games.

The Irish (17-7, 6-5) led by 15 in the first half, but by halftime the Bulls tied the game at 34.

Jackson drove inside to tie the game at 60, then his three-point play with 61 seconds left gave the Irish the lead.

Jackson started his strong finish when he hit a pair of free throws with 5:40 left to tie the score at 52. After he had a shot blocked, he scored on a rebound with 3:36 left to give the Irish a 56-54 lead. But just like when the Irish beat the Bulls 74-73 last month, Harangody clinched the game at the free-throw line.

Harangody, second only to Jones in Big East scoring this season, was 5-of-17 shooting and had a season-high 15 rebounds. Jones was 3-of-17 from the field for 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. He had been averaging 35 points and 7.5 rebounds as South Florida won four straight league games for the first time since joining the Big East in 2005.

The Bulls are now 4-36 in road games in the league, but had a shot at winning their third straight on the road.

Chris Howard led the Bulls with 23 points. Famous had 18 points and eight rebounds as the Bulls outscored the Irish 36-16 in the paint and 11-4 on second-chance points. But the Irish had a 39-32 advantage on the boards. Ben Hansbrough added 13 points for the Irish.

Notre Dame opened the game by making 7-of-9 shots, taking a 16-2 lead on a reverse layup by Harangody, while the Bulls started making just 1-of-9 shots. The Irish led by as much as 25-10 when Hansbrough hit a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 burst. But Jones, who missed his first six shots and two free throws, finally got the Bulls going when he drove to the basket to spark a 22-6 run.

Famous scored eight points during the run and the Bulls briefly took the lead at 32-31 on a basket inside by Toarlyn Fitzpatrick.

(This version CORRECTS Notre Dame 65, South Florida 62. correction in 6th graf that Harangody was 5-of-17 shooting.)