Greensville, SC (UHND) - Seniors Ryan Humphrey, Harold Swanagan, and David Graves nearly lead Notre Dame to an upset of monumental proportions this afternoon, but in the end the Blue Devils were too much for Notre Dame. Notre Dame's three seniors though, who have now played their final game for Notre Dame, left absolutely nothing on the floor today except a 110% effort.

Ryan Humphrey kept Notre Dame in the game offensively in the first half and Swanagan came up huge in the final minutes before fouling out. Graves also came through with some huge three pointers at key moments in the game. All three played their hearts out, as did the entire team. The Irish had a lead of as much as seven down the stretch, but after tying the game with just over two minutes to go, the Blue Devils hit their shots and the Irish didn't.

Notre Dame had several chances in the final 10 minutes to put more points on the board. Humphrey missed a few close shots as did Graves and Matt Carroll, who also had a huge game. Chris Thomas also made a few costly mistakes in crunch time that helped seal ND's fate. With the shot clock winding down, Thomas juked Jason Williams and drove to the basket and instead of putting up a shot tried to pass it and it was stolen. Late in the game with Notre Dame down three, Thomas also came down the court and rushed a three point attempt.

Overall though the Irish played the #1 team in country down to the wire and gave Duke all they handle today despite not playing their best offensive game. Notre Dame didn't make many three pointers today and relied mostly on the inside presence of Humphrey and Swanagan. Notre Dame also kept itself in the game by controlling the offensive glass.

So for the second year in a row Notre Dame's season ends in the second round of the tournament. This year's loss was just as hard to swallow as last year's even though the Irish weren't given much of a chance out there today. Last year Notre Dame should have won their second round match-up, but this year they were given little chance and nearly knocked Goliath out of the tournament.

Notre Dame will sorely miss its trio of seniors. Humphrey played bigger this year than anyone could have really expected. He was the heart and soul of the team this year and his leadership will be missed greatly as will the contributions from David Graves and Harold Swanagan. All three were huge reasons for the team's success this year and in the recent seasons. Graves ends his career 8th all time in scoring at Notre Dame.

The future is still bright for Notre Dame though. Starters Matt Carroll and Chris Thomas return next season. As do solid contributors from this year Jordan Cornette, Torrian Jones, Tom Timmermans, and Jere Macura. Notre Dame's roster will also be bolstered by the additions of incoming freshmen Torin Francis, Chris Quinn, and Ricky Cornett and senior transfer Danny White. Notre Dame's lineup next year will most likely be Thomas and Carroll playing guard with Jordan Cornette and Danny White playing forward and Francis playing center. That lineup has a nice mix of young, experience, and athleticism which should make for another great year. The talent will be here for another run at the Big East title and another NCAA Tourney run.