But he had to wait to make sure his two missed free throws in the final seconds didn’t cost eighth-ranked Notre Dame a win over No. 6 Texas.
They didn’t - barely.
After Harangody’s second miss with 3.5 seconds to play, Texas’ A.J. Abrams let fly with a shot from just beyond halfcourt that bounced off the front of the rim and the Fighting Irish had an 81-80 victory in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
“I’m not the kind of player to look back and say I missed two free throws,” Harangody said. “We got the win.”
This was the first matchup of AP Top 10 teams this season and there will be another tonight as the Fighting Irish (4-0) advanced to the championship game against No. 1 North Carolina, which ripped Oregon 98-69 in the later semifinal game. The Longhorns (3-1) will play the Ducks for third place.
“We’re happy we’re playing for the championship, that’s why we came here and we don’t care who it would be against,” said Notre Dame’s Kyle McAlarney, who had five 3-pointers and 19 points.
The teams combined for 49 3-point attempts and Notre Dame won that battle, hitting 11 from beyond the arc to the Longhorns’ eight.
“McAlarney doesn’t need a whole lot of space,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “We can survive teams making 11 3s against us. It just seemed that every time we had a chance down the stretch they would get a big rebound, make a big play.”
Abrams had 23 points and Justin Mason had 16 points and seven assists for the Longhorns. Damion James had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
“We’re disappointed with the loss but it was to a seasoned, experienced team,” Barnes said. “I thought we did some good things and I wasn’t surprised we fought back.”
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey thought having three seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup was the difference for his team.
“We are older and have been together as long as any team,” he said. “I told them before the game, at halftime and at every timeout that we’re more experienced and that’s the way we played. I think that translates into maturity and experience and that’s why we were able to handle the way they came at us down the stretch.”
Both teams came in having opened the season with impressive defense, but neither had played a team as good as the other one it saw in the semifinals.
Notre Dame came in allowing 54 points per game and Texas was even better at 46.3. Those numbers were almost gone by halftime as the Fighting Irish led 43-40.
Notre Dame took the lead for good at 47-45 on a drive by Harangody with 17:29 left but the Longhorns were always within striking distance, closing within 75-71 on a basket by Varez Ward with 1:40 left. Harangody made four free throws to make it an eight-point lead but Texas got back within four twice in the final 32 seconds on 3s by Abrams and then made it 81-80 with 4.3 seconds left on a 3 by Mason.
McAlarney made five of his first six 3s to open things up inside for Harangody.
Abrams, who was 9-for-18 from 3s coming in, had a tough go from beyond the arc, missing eight of his first 10 from there, although he did make the big shots down the stretch and finished 5-of-17.
“I missed shots after my teammates did a great job of getting me the ball,” Abrams said. “I just didn’t make them.”
But he almost made the big one at the end.
“I did think it was going to go, but you never know when you have to take it from that far,” he said.
But the 3 of the game belonged to Harangody, who was 1-for-3 from beyond the arc coming in. There was a scramble for the ball far from the basket and the shot clock was winding down. Harangody grabbed the ball and let fly from 40 feet, and the ball banked in as the buzzer sounded to give Notre Dame a 66-60 lead with 7:47 to go.
“I called that,” he said.
Barnes said the two long 3s showed the difference in who’s taking them.
“A.J. takes it and a guard gets it to the rim softly,” he said, “The big fella almost broke the backboard."
Notre Dame’s Tory Jackson had 16 points and seven assists.
Notre Dame beat Indiana 88-50 in the opening round, and Texas advanced with a 68-50 win over Saint Joseph’s.
