Feb. 07--Bonzie Colson generally keeps his eye on the ball. But the Notre Dame forward found the ball on his eye Saturday, when all eyes of the college basketball world were on South Bend.
College Game Day was in town to see the Joyce Center rejoice in light of the Irish's 80-76, come-from-behind victory in front of zero empty seats.
But before the Irish toppled the Tar Heels for the third straight time, a whistle blew as Colson's left eye met the ball with 8 minutes, 46 seconds left in the first half. He had been called for a foul that sent Marcus Paige to the free-throw line, where Paige made both and continued the Tar Heels' 6-0 run that eventually turned into a 15-point lead.
It looked like that kind of night.
Colson was met on the sideline by a trainer carrying a suitcase filled with spare lenses. His eyes both intact, Colson saw a little over an hour later a court filled with fans celebrating the unlikely triumph.
"You don't expect it," Colson said. "Duke is a great team. North Carolina is a great team."
And?
"And so are we," Colson said.
Colson finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, and the Irish reminded the rest of the ACC that it should sleep with one eye open. Notre Dame has defeated Duke and North Carolina seven of the last eight times the teams have met.
The Irish (16-7, 7-4 ACC) committed just two turnovers to North Carolina's 13. Notre Dame turned those into 19 points. They also shot just 23-for-66 from the field, including 3-for-16 from behind the 3-point line against the Tar Heels (19-4, 8-2), who lost their second in a row.
But half of their 40 rebounds were of the offensive variety, resulting in 23 second-chance points. They shot 31-for-38 from the free-throw line.
The numbers go on and on. Five starters in double figures, including 15 points and 10 rebounds from Zach Auguste, 13 and four assists from Steve Vasturia, 10 from V.J. Beachem. Demetrius Jackson, also had 19 points, including the 1,000th of his career, which gave the Irish a two-point lead in the second half.
"When we've been under the bright lights and on the big stage, we've flat-out delivered," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.
In the process, the Irish, who also own victories against Iowa on a neutral court and Duke at Cameron Indoor, improved their standing with the NCAA tournament selection committee.
Oh, and they haven't lost back-to-back games since losing three in a row to end the 2013-14 season, a span of 63 games.
"You gotta get the loose balls, all the little things that don't show in the stat sheet," Colson said. "Everybody's been talking about how bad we are on the defensive end -- we need to improve in that department, but hey, we played really good defense tonight."
The vision is becoming clearer.
pskrbina@tribpub.com
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