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TAMPA- The University of South Florida dropped its BIG EAST home opener to Notre Dame Tuesday night, 74-73, despite 26 points from junior Dominique Jones.

USF went on a 25-12 run in the second half to take a 71-69 lead with under two minutes to go, but the Irish responded and pulled out the slight victory.

After Notre Dame went up, 73-71, Mercer got a tip-in bucket off of a missed shot to tie the game at 73-all with under 20 seconds remaining.

With 1.9 seconds remaining, Harangody was fouled by Mercer on a drive to the lane, and the forward hit the first of two free throws to give the Irish the 74-73 advantage with just 1.9 seconds remaining.

The Bulls inbound pass sailed out of bounds and gave Notre Dame the slight victory.

"It's too bad that somebody had to lose that game," said Coach Stan Heath. "I think that both teams just battled and fought and it was a well played college basketball game. That's BIG EAST basketball, it comes down to those possessions."

After Bulls and Irish were tied 33-33 at halftime, Notre Dame pulled away early in the second half behind Luke Harangody and his 36 points.

The Irish extended their second-half lead to 12 points, but the Bulls made a run with under 10 minutes to go to take the lead 71-69. USF, though, could not close out the Irish.

Mike Mercer picked up a double-double, the first of his career, as he scored 10 points and pulled down 10 boards, a career high, eclipsing his previous high of seven, and also set a career high in steals with four.

Freshman Toarlyn Fitzpatrick was matched up with the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year in Harangody for most of the game, and Fitzpatrick tied his career high of 11 points which he put up against Louisville earlier this year. Fitzpatrick also played a career-high 36 minutes in the effort.

"Toarlyn's last two BIG EAST games have been his two best games of the year.  He is making a lot of progress," said Heath.

Junior Jarrid Famous recorded his fifth straight game with double-digit points by recording 14 on 7-of-10 shooting. It is also the eighth time in the past 10 games in which he has posted double-digits in the points category.

The Bulls swatted away eight Notre Dame shots on the night led by Famous with four and Fitzpatrick with three.

Jones got the scoring started as he hit a jumper from just inside the arch, on the wing, at the 18-minute mark.

After a free throw by ND, Jones pulled up for a deep three to give the Bulls the 5-1 advantage early on.

Jones scored the first eight points of the game for the Bulls on a two and a pair of threes. He was 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from 3-point land.

The Irish responded with a 9-0 run to take a 12-8 advantage six minutes into the contest.

After an offensive board and dunk by Famous, Notre Dame responded by scoring on two straight possessions including a three by Harangody.

He came in for senior Mike Mercer in at 13:53 in the first, and hit a jumper to give the Bulls the 20-19 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining.

After a Famous block on a Harangody shot at the 10:30 mark, there was a loose ball in front of the USF bench, and words were exchanged between senior Chris Howard and Harangody. 

With 7:39 remaining, Fitzpatrick got a bucket and a foul to tie the game up at 22 apiece.

Howard cut the Notre Dame lead to 28-27 with a deep three with 4:30 remaining, and the Bulls would take a 29-28 lead on a bucket by Famous underneath.

Both teams continued to exchange buckets until the end of the half, when they went to the locker room tied 33-33.

An even first half saw seven lead changes and seven tie scores.

The Irish opened up the second half on a 10-5 run and forced Fitzpatrick to pick up his third foul and head to the bench, which propelled Notre Dame on a 10-0 run to make it 52-40 at the 13 minute mark.

The Bulls then got a steal and layup by Mercer to cut the ND lead to 10, 57-47.

The Bulls would cut the score to 60-59 after a 16-3 run with under seven minutes remaining. Another steal by Mercer at the 2:25 mark led to a fast-break dunk by Jones and tied the game at 69-69.

USF went on a 25-12 run throughout the middle of the second half to take a 71-69 lead after an offensive board and dunk by Fitzpatrick.

Notre Dame got a layup from Harangody to tie the game again at 71-71, as Notre Dame was able to pull out the victory.

"I am really proud of the fact that our guys, when we were down big, kept battling and fighting and kept digging into that lead and cutting it down," added Heath.

USF will be back in action Sunday as the Bulls head to Syracuse to face the Orange. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

Team Notes

- The Bulls swatted away eight Notre Dame shots on the night led by Famous with four and Fitzpatrick with three.

- The Bulls outscored Notre Dame 34-26 in points in the paint.

- Both teams got production from their starting five, as there was only five points scored between the two benches. Notre Dame got three points from Carleton Scott, while the Bulls got two points from Mike Burwell.
 

Individual Notes

- Mike Mercer picked up a double-double, the first of his career, and pulled down 10 boards on the night, a career high, eclipsing his previous high of seven. He also set a career high in steals with four.

- Toarlyn Fitzpatrick was matched up with BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, Luke Harangody, for most of the game, and tied his career high of 11 points, which he put up against Louisville earlier this year. He played a career high 36 minutes in the effort.

- Jarrid Famous recorded his fifth straight game with double-digit points by recording 14 points on 7-10 shooting. It is also the eighth time in the past 10 games in which he has posted double-digits in the points category.

- In just his third season with the Bulls, Dominique Jones is currently listed on seven career records lists at USF and looking in on two others. He is just four made free throws made from taking over sixth on the all-time list and three made three pointers from eighth.  He also needs to attempt two free throws to move into 10th and two three point attempts to become eighth in the record book in each category. In both three pointers made and attempted, he'll surpass current team manager Altron Jackson, who played for the Bulls from 1999-02.