No. 11-seed Notre Dame was playing on short rest Friday, but No. 6-seed Alabama was the team that faded in the second half. The Fighting Irish pulled off the first-round NCAA Tournament upset, defeating the Crimson Tide 78-64 in San Diego.

It was a 41-36 game in Notre Dame’s favor at the half. As the second half got underway, the TNT broadcast shared that UA coach Nate Oats called on the Crimson Tide to try to tire out the Irish, who played a double-overtime game in the First Four against Rutgers on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio. Notre Dame, though, was able to widen its lead in the second half as Cormac Ryan stayed hot. Ryan led all scorers with 29 points, a career-high, on 10-of-13 shooting, including 7 3-pointers. He scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half.

Notre Dame got the lead up to 14 points when a Blake Wesley layup made it 61-47 at the 9:24 mark. Seemingly every time Alabama was able to cut it to single digits, the Irish had an answer.

Alabama was without Jahvon Quinerly for most of the game. Quinerly had to be helped off the court early in the first half after injuring his knee.

Keon Ellis led Alabama with 16 points.  In the final box score, the Irish posted better numbers when it came to field goal percentage (53.7% to 40.6%), 3-point shooting (62.5% to 33.3%) and rebounds. The Tide committed fewer turnovers (18-14) while logging more assists (16-13) and blocks (4-1).

UA finishes the 2021-22 campaign with a 19-14 record on a 4-game losing skid.