FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Notre Dame junior guard Chris Thomas threw in a career-high 39 points as the Fighting Irish eliminated Saint Louis 77-66 tonight in the 2004 Owens Corning National Invitation Tournament's second round before a sold-out crowd of 11,074 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Irish advance to play the winner of tomorrow night's Oregon/George Mason game.
"It's a tough night defensively when a special player has a special game," Billikens head coach Brad Soderberg said. "We thought that we actually defended him fairly well, made him take tough shots and had a hand in his face, but he made them."
In a tightly played first half, Saint Louis forged a 19-14 lead, but saw Notre Dame answer with an 8-0 run to claim a 22-19 edge with 3:32 remaining. Billiken senior guard Josh Fisher snapped the Bills' scoreless streak with a short jumper, and his triple closed the scoring for the half, giving the Bills a 26-25 advantage at the break.
After Billiken junior guard Reggie Bryant knocked down a jumper to put the Bills up 41-40 with 13:21 remaining, Irish forward Jordan Cornette drained a three-ball to give ND the lead for good. With the Irish leading 50-44, Thomas took over and scored 13 of ND's next 15 points as the Irish exploded to a 65-48 lead. The Bills could only get as close as 75-66 on Fisher's lay-in with 49 ticks remaining.
The Billikens closed the season at 19-13 and finished with their most wins since the 2000 C-USA Tournament championship team finished 19-14. Fisher led the Bills by matching his career high with 21 points. Bryant chipped in with 19 points. Ross Varner and Chris Sloan each had five rebounds as the Bills out-boarded the Irish 29-26. The Bills shot 47.2 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from the arc and 75 percent from the free throw line.
Thomas was the only Irish player in double figures. Cornette led all rebounders with eight. The Irish shot 51 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from three and 79.2 percent from the line. The 52 points that the Irish scored in the second half was the most yielded by the Bills in a half this season.
