Dakota domination! NDSU men stun Notre Dame; SDSU women shock No. 12 Penn State

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Marshall Bjorklund scored 26 points Wednesday night to lead North Dakota State to a road upset over Notre Dame, 73-69, in the third round of the Gotham Classic at Purcell Pavilion.

In Brookings, S.D., Megan Waytashek and Steph Paluch scored 18 points apiece as South Dakota State defeated No. 12 Penn State 83-79 despite squandering a 20-point halftime lead.

The Dakota schools were members of NCAA Division II until the middle of the previous decade, and while both have made appearances in the NCAA Division I basketball tournament, Wednesday's victories came over teams that are frequently among the nation's elite.

Both teams have a Minnesota influence: SDSU has eight Minnesotans on its roster; NDSU has five Minnesota players.

In NDSU's victory, Lawrence Alexander added 16 points and 14 rebounds to help the Bison (7-3) earn their fifth straight win. Pat Connaughton scored 21 to lead Notre Dame (7-3).

Jerian Grant hit a pair of free throws to get the Irish within one point, 67-66, after Bjorklund fouled out with 42.1 seconds left, but Taylor Braun knocked down a pair from the line, then stole the ball as the Irish pressed for a shot. He fed the ball ahead to Kory Brown, who slammed it in with 16 seconds left to seal the victory. Braun finished with 13 points.

Connaughton scored a pair of breakaway baskets 5 minutes into the second half to give the Irish their first lead since 7:12 of the first half.

After the Bison scored six straight get their lead back to three, Connaughton knocked down a 3-pointer to tie it with 9:20 to go, but the Irish couldn't keep their momentum going. Bjorklund responded with consecutive buckets down low as the Irish continued to fire, and miss, from the arc.

Their next four shots from the field after Connaughton's 3 were misses from deep, but Atkins managed a traditional three-point play on a tough drive to the hoop with 6:21 to go to get Notre Dame back within one.

But North Dakota State kept feeding Bjorklund in the paint, and he continued to deliver, knocking down two more jump hooks in the lane to put the Bison back up by five points. Notre Dame countered by switching to a zone, and Tom Knight corralled a steal and blocked a Bjorklund shot on consecutive possessions.

Another Connaughton 3-pointer at 2:11 cut the Bison lead back to two. The Bison took a 39-37 lead into halftime after shooting 58 percent (14 for 24), including 71 percent from 3-point range (5 of 7). Bjorklund, Alexander and Braun each had 10 points in the first half, while Notre Dame's Demetrius Jackson knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 11. Neither team led by more than six points all game.

In South Dakota, the Jackrabbits (7-4) had a 23-point lead when Paluch opened the second half with a 3 and were up 21 with 14:39 left when a Dara Tayler three-point play started a 10-0 for Penn State. The lead was still in double figures at the 5-minute mark before the Nittany Lions stormed back.