Hempel took home honors for the teams

NEW YORK -- Notre Dame coach Mike Brey walked off the court at Barclays Center and said with a big smile on his face, God, I love Brooklyn.As well he should after the Fighting Irish completed their second successful stretch in the borough, beating Northwestern 70-66 on Tuesday night in the championship game of the Legends Classic.In March, Notre Dame beat Michigan and Stephen F. Austin here to advance in the NCAA Tournament, where the Fighting Irish went on to the Elite Eight.We got karma, Brey said. I said to (ESPNs) Doris Burke when I went for the interview, Brooklyn magic still. That had a crazy finish like the Stephen F. Austin game. We were down to Michigan. I love the fact that were coming back for the ACC Tournament. Im sure going to try and stir up the ghosts again in March. Were comfortable here and I dont want to overanalyze it.The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament will be held in Barclays Center for the first time this season.Matt Farrells three-point play with 14 seconds remaining gave Notre Dame the lead, and his two free throws 11 seconds later sealed the victory.Northwestern had a 66-65 lead with 39 seconds to play after a drive by Bryant McIntosh. Notre Dames Steve Vasturia missed a jumper, but Northwestern threw the ball away on an inbounds pass, setting the stage for Farrell.He drove the lane and was knocked to the floor as the ball went in. He sat on the court, looked at the photographers and stuck his tongue out before being mobbed by teammates.The Wildcats still had a chance, but McIntosh missed a drive with 4 seconds left and it was Farrell who grabbed the rebound and was fouled.I wasnt really sure where they were throwing the ball because me and Steve were both right around there. V.J. (Beachem) was going to take it. He just kind of threw it to me at the top of the key, Farrell said. I dont know who was on me, but I had a mismatch. There was a big on me. So I just wanted to get in the lane and try to make a play. Ultimately, I end up making a good play. It was just kind of surreal in the moment, just trying to make a play and I end up falling.He was asked about what happened next as he sat on the court.Just having fun, the New Jersey native said. Just being back home and being in this building. Its a lot of fun playing with these guys.Farrell, the tournament MVP, and Vasturia both had 18 points for the Fighting Irish (5-0). Bonzie Colson added 13 points and 11 rebounds.This has been blossoming since March, watching him through the summer, Brey said of Farrell. I dont think the staff or his teammates are shocked. Theres an edge about him, a fearlessness about him and Im just so thrilled that hes come out of here a really confident guy and really knows hes got the keys to the car.Scottie Lindsey had 18 points for the Wildcats (3-2), and Vic Law added 14 points with seven rebounds. McIntosh finished with seven points on 3-for-18 shooting.Nathan Taphorn, who threw the ball away before Farrells three-point play, had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.Notre Dame, which beat Colorado 89-83 in the semifinals, led by 12 early in the second half. Northwestern, which beat No. 22 Texas 77-58 in the semifinals, chipped away and was finally able to make some headway when the Fighting Irish went more than 4 minutes without scoring. During the drought, Taphorn hit two 3s and Law added another to make it 55-54 with 11:04 to play.They know how to win. Theyre a tough team. Theyre well-coached, Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. I have great respect for who they are and the plays they made down the stretch. We had our chances. All that being said, we had a one-point lead and the ball with 20 seconds to go. We werent able to close the deal.And that was because of the long inbounds pass that went out of bounds.Taphorns a kid that I trust as an inbounder, Collins said. Hes kind of our specialist. Hes done that his whole career.Northwestern finished 11 of 18 from 3-point range, while the Fighting Irish were 8 of 18. The Wildcats had a 37-27 rebounding advantage.BIG PICTURENotre Dame: The Fighting Irish have plenty of experience back from last seasons team that reached the Elite Eight and they will need that as they approach the Atlantic Coast Conference season. They were picked seventh in the preseason ACC poll.Northwestern: The Wildcats have had two tough losses this season but hope to make a run at their first NCAA Tournament bid.POLITICAL FANSSeated behind the Notre Dame bench were Rep. Peter King of Long Island and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.OLD PALSWhen Brey was an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski at Duke he handled the recruiting of Collins and was successful. While at Duke, Collins played in three NCAA Tournaments and one Final Four.UP NEXTNotre Dame: The Fighting Irish return home for games against Chicago State on Saturday and Iowa next Tuesday in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge,Northwestern: The Wildcats play Bryant at home on Friday and then Wake Forest in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Monday. Carolina Hurricanes Store . Belfort (24-10) needed just 77 seconds to down Henderson in the headlining bout of Saturdays "UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson" event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision. Carolina Hurricanes Gear . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Fake Hurricanes Jerseys . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Hurricanes Jerseys China . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- With an intimidating defense and blistering hot attack, the No. 24 Kentucky Wildcats cruised past the Wyoming Cowgirls for their first win of the season, 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-10) in Holloway Gymnasium on Friday evening.Kentucky was impeccable on both ends of the ball, with five players registering five or more kills on the offensive end. The team hit a red-hot .354 for the match. On defense, UK was equally impressive, intimidating Wyoming and holding the Cowgirls to a measly .075 percentage. Three Cowgirls ended the match with more errors than kills.Im glad we got to iron out a few things during the match, 12th-season head coach Craig Skinner commented following the sweep. I thought we did a better job on defense and played much cleaner volleyball. It allowed our offense to click more, which should help us to keep finding a better rhythm tomorrow.With the victory, Kentucky evens its record to 1-1 on the season, while Wyoming falls to 0-2. The Wildcats will play again tomorrow in the tournaments final match - a top 25 bout against host No. 20 Purdue.Freshman Leah Edmond shined again for the Cats, leading the team in kills for the second match in a row, this time with 11. In addition to her match-high kill number, she led the teams high-volume hitters in efficiency at a .476 clip. Junior Darian Mack joined Edmond in double figures with 10 kills after shaking off a rocky start. The Raleigh, North Carolina, native added three digs and two blocks. Sophomore setter Olivia Dailey guided the team to its .354 hitting percentage, posting 31 assists while going a perfect five-for-five on attacking attempts and adding a team-best three blocks and two aces.Sophomore opposite Brooke Morgan made an impact off the bench, adding six kills, while junior middle blocker Emily Franklin added five and a pair of digs. All-Southeastern Conference middle blocker Kaz Brown contributed four kills and three blocks in the match. Senior outside Anni Thomasson tacked on three kill and four digs in the outing.Following the match, members of the team were honored by Purdues Mortar Board honor society for its accomplishments off of the court. Hempel took home honors for the teams top GPA, Watson was acknowledged for the teams most improved GPA and Thomasson received credit for leading the team in community service efforts.ddddddddddddSET RECAPSSet 1Kentucky and Wyoming traded small runs to an 8-8 tie early on. The Wildcats then opened up a 4-0 tear, powered by kills from Thomasson and Mack, as well as an ace from the senior and a block from Brown to take a 12-8 lead. The Cowgirls called timeout and the teams traded points to a 13-11 UK score. Wyoming then opened a small 3-1 run, when Kentucky called a timeout of their own. An ace from Watson and kills from Morgan and Edmond guided UK to a 20-15 lead, forcing Wyoming to use its second break. Wyoming tacked on two points before a hammer from Brown put UK back on track at 22-17. Mack and Edmond added kills before an attacking error from the Cowgirls awarded Kentucky the first set, 25-19.Set 2The sides swapped points in the beginning of the match to a 4-4 tie before Wyoming made a 3-1 run to take an 8-5 advantage. A kill from Mack helped pull the Wildcats within one before three more points from Wyoming led to a Kentucky timeout, trailing 11-7. UK didnt look back, as a 5-1 run powered by Thomasson, Edmond and Mack tied the set at 12 apiece. From there, neither team led by more than two before the teams tied once again at 20-20. Kentucky went on to take five of the final six points, with Morgan hammering down back-to-back kills to close the frame, 25-21.Set 3The third set was all Kentucky from the beginning, and the Cats never looked back. Kills from Edmond, Franklin and a pair from Dailey launched UK to an early 5-1 lead. Following a Wyoming timeout the Cowgirls managed to put up two more points before Kentucky hit a 10-3 lead, powered by Macks breakout third set. A stingy Cats defense led Wyoming to a pair of errors before kills from Edmond and Thomasson gave UK the lead, 15-5. The two sides traded points until another one of Macks kills gave Kentucky a 22-9 edge. The Wildcats took five of the six final points, as a kill from Brown closed out the match, 25-10. ' ' '