Five-Overtime Game Dominates NCAA Weekend As Notre Dame Tops Louisville, Hurricanes Defeat Tar Heels In Front of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James

Feb 11, 2013 09:11 AM EST

College basketball has been a wild ride this season with top team being upset left and right and Saturday was no different, as Louisville and Notre Dame battled it out in five overtimes for the longest Big East game in regular season history.

In Miami the Hurricanes staked their claim as one of the best teams in the ACC after demolishing the Tar Heels in front of Miami Heat stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

The Big East thriller was one of the best games of the season and saw Louisville's Russ Smith get a chance to tie the game before missing on a three-point attempt in the final overtime period.

"I talked about it being a 15-rounder and taking punches and being put on the mat," coach Mike Brey said. "At the fourth or fifth timeout I said, 'Has there ever been a 20-rounder?' "

The longest regular season game before the five-overtime matchup was in 2002 when Notre Dame beat Georgetown 116-111 in four overtimes. Jerian Grant had 19 points to lead Notre Dame, while Smith added 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Cardinals.

Notre Dame and Louisville have a penchant for going into overtime. Four of the last five games and seven of the last 12 overall have gone to extra frames.

In Miami the Hurricanes improved to 10-0 in the conference and now has statement wins over both North Carolina and Duke. Miami defeated the Tar Heels 87-61 on Saturday, which followed the 90-63 blowout against the Blue Devils. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Hurricanes are the first team since the start of ACC play in 1953 to beat Duke and UNC in the same season by 25-plus points each.

The Hurricanes hit 15 3-pointers, including five from Shane Larkin, who had 18 points and a career-high nine assists. Miami improved to 19-3 on the season and have already set a school record for victories within the conference. North Carolina has now fallen to Miami twice in the past month.

"Everybody from North Carolina always thinks it's just about North Carolina," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. "It's not. Miami is pretty dadgum good."

Miami is the first team apart from Duke or North Carolina to start a season 10-0 in the ACC since Virginia did it in the 1980 season.

The Kansas Jayhawks had a rough weekend, falling for the third straight time after losing 72-66 on the road against Oklahoma. It was the first time since 2005 that the Jayhawks lost three in a row and it snapped a 10 game losing streak for the Sooners against top 10 opponents.

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