South Bend surprise
Late shot by Wesley gives Irish upset over No. 10 Kentucky
SOUTH BEND — Freshman and hometown star Blake Wesley hit a go-ahead, pull-up jumper in the lane with 11.7 seconds left and Notre Dame beat No. 10 Kentucky 66-62 on Saturday.
Wesley broke a 62-62 tie and Dane Goodwin added a dunk as time expired, prompting fans to storm the Purcell Pavilion court.
The Irish scored the final five points in the closing 1:31.
Notre Dame (4-4) ended a three-game losing skid in its first matchup of the season against a ranked team.
The Wildcats (7-2) had won seven in row.
Wesley and Goodwin scored 14 points each for the Irish, who erased a 53-48 deficit with an 11-1 spurt.
Trey Wertz added 12 points for Notre Dame and Paul Atkinson had 10.
Oscar Tshiebwe scored 25 points for Kentucky. He was 11 of 14 from the field to go with seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Keion Brooks added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats had feasted on a soft schedule since their season-opening 79-71 loss to No. 3 Duke in New York, and until Saturday, hadn’t even played a true road game.
It caught up to them and gets tougher now. Next Saturday’s matchup against No. 21 Ohio State will be followed by hosting rival Louisville (6-3).
Notre Dame’s pursuit to regain national relevancy got a boost.
The Irish, trying to avoid a third losing season in four years, beat a ranked team for just the second time in their last 30 tries dating back to November 2017.
The Irish face next Indiana in the 11th annual and final planned Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis next Saturday afternoon. The event also features Purdue and Butler.