Syracuse, N.Y. -- As Notre Dame's Martinas Geben corralled a loose ball off the body of Tyus Battle with just seconds remaining on Saturday and found TJ Gibbs racing ahead, the game-winning play was being made well behind all of them, away from the eyes of anyone following the ball.
There, unnoticed until the last moment, Notre Dame guard Rex Pflueger broke into a full sprint, breaking past Syracuse's Marek Dolezaj and Frank Howard.
Gibbs couldn't finish a layup over Battle. Syracuse forward Oshae Brissett, who might have been in position to grab a rebound, helped Battle make the initial defensive stop at the rim by making a swiping attempt at Gibbs' shot.