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Mattis leads South Florida over No. 19 Notre Dame

Feb 4, 2007 - 4:48 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- McHugh Mattis came up huge down the stretch to knock down a league powerhouse.

Mattis scored 13 of his 23 points in the second half and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead South Florida to a 69-63 upset victory over No. 19 Notre Dame in Big East Conference play.

A 6-6 senior, Mattis scored eight points during a key 14-4 run capped by Adamu Saaka's two free throws with 45 seconds remaining that snapped a 51-51 tie and gave the Bulls (12-11, 3-6 Big East) an insurmountable 65-55 advantage.

Melvin Buckley scored 11 points for South Florida, which shot 40 percent (23-of-58) and outscored the Fighting Irish in the paint by a 32-20 margin.

Colin Falls scored 26 points and Russell Carter added 14 for the Irish (18-5, 6-4), who shot 38 percent (24-of-64) from the field.

The Bulls held a 21-20 advantage with 5:31 remaining in the opening half and finished on a 10-6 spurt to head to halftime with a 31-26 lead.

Notre Dame dropped to 1-4 on the road this season after earning its first road victory against Syracuse on Tuesday night.

The Fighting Irish came into the contest leading the Big East in points with an 83.4 average.