Zach Auguste’s hair was not understated to begin with. The sides were shaved, leaving a wide curly streak of dark hair ranging across the top of his head in kind of an overweight Mohawk. Above the left side of his forehead, a lightning bolt-shaped zigzag is cut in. But, that wasn’t enough for this season, his final one at Notre Dame, so he added blond highlights to the upper half of the curls early in the basketball year.
“Something different,” Auguste said.
That’s what he was Thursday night. Auguste finished with 19 points and 22 rebounds in 41 minutes in Notre Dame’s legacy matchup-spoiling win against Duke, an 84-79 overtime stomach grinder. By the end, Auguste was one rebound shy of the ACC tournament record, Duke was leaving Washington early, and Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey needed a drink.
This, on the outside, was not how the tournament was supposed to work, though Notre Dame is the defending champion. North Carolina had won the first game of the day. The Tar Heels sat waiting for yet another matchup with Duke, a pending Friday night hypefest in the ACC tournament semifinals. Notre Dame, per usual, did not care about those suggestions. For three years, the Fighting Irish have been shaking their fist at the ACC establishment, often victorious against the blue bloods of Tobacco Road, acting as the rabble-rousers of the conference. Thursday was no different.
Earlier in the week, Brey tried to keep from uttering Duke’s name. It was likely the Blue Devils would be Notre Dame’s first opponent, but Brey wasn’t going to bring it up before it happened, despite knowing it was what his team and fans wanted. By late Wednesday afternoon, the matchup was set.
Notre Dame had won at Duke, 95-91, on Jan. 16. It knew the Blue Devils had a thin rotation, liked to dribble drive and drop off passes to post men and could be beaten. The four letters across Duke’s jerseys only caused Notre Dame to see a team it had defeated in four of the last five meetings, not a looming giant.
SEE ALSO: Depth helps top-seeded North Carolina cruise past Pitt in ACC quarterfinals
That all seemed like poppycock midway through the second half. Duke led by 16 points. Notre Dame tossed the ball throughout the arena, even fumbling away a free breakaway. After the ball bounced off V.J. Beachem’s fingers as he ran alone to the basket, Auguste put his hands on his head and Brey began to mentally sift through canned speeches. He was back in Washington, searching for spin.
“I’m going, ’OK, how am I going to sell this?’ Brey said. “We’ll get some rest. We’ll be ready for Selection Sunday. And then, we get a couple stops and the whole atmosphere changes.”
Auguste was a crushing thrust to that change. Duke center Marshall Plumlee committed two fouls in a 36-second span of the first half, forcing Duke to yo-yo his playing time the rest of the game. Plumlee eventually fouled out. His relief, Chase Jeter, also fouled out. Auguste, screaming, jumping, boxing out, knocked over all of Duke’s interior pillars.
He’s a bit strange, according to his coach, which Brey “loves.” The hair is accented by streaming arm tattoos. Both are bolstered by his playing style: A blend of maniacal and fundamental.
Auguste came from across the lane for a help block in the first half. When he spiked Brandon Ingram’s shot, he yelled at no one in particular. The block also did not count, because a foul had been called on a teammate. Auguste didn’t care. He was juiced.
A similar sequence was repeated in the second half. This time, the block counted after the ball flew into the stands. Again, Auguste was yelling. He stomped partially into the stands. Were he in public, a white coat would seem justifiable.
SEE ALSO: Notre Dame’s Mike Brey returns home for ACC tournament eyeing another title
“Zach Auguste is playing as good as anybody in the country,” Brey said. “And then, with the energy and emotion and a little bit of crazy [stuff] that he plays with, that is really good because he scares the other team and he even scares his teammates to playing hard. I love his venom and energy and flying all over the place.”
Notre Dame’s experience began to surface after the Duke lead crested at 16 points. The game was tied with 1:07 to play. A last-ditch, offhand runner by Duke’s Luke Kennard was off at the end of regulation. Notre Dame zipped to a six-point lead in overtime, and all that remained were free throws.
Auguste knows what winning in Washington means to Brey, who was born in Bethesda, Maryland, and attended DeMatha Catholic High School, then, eventually, George Washington. Former DeMatha coach Morgan Wootten sat near Brey’s family Thursday and watched the rally.
“We know coach’s history here,” Auguste said.
Auguste’s edge helped Brey add a little more.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.