NCAA East Region | George Mason falls to Notre Dame

DENVER — Barely seven minutes into this NCAA tournament venture, Notre Dame forward Ryan Ayers sprinted to the sideline fresh off a three-point bomb, head bobbing, barking toward teammates who jubilantly bounced off the bench.

Gashed by an offensive explosion, 12th-seeded George Mason called a timeout to cauterize the wound. Yet it didn't stop there, as a Luke Zeller three-pointer one possession later made it a 16-point game.

It was the kind of start that can finish things. It was precisely what an Irish team dreading another first-round exit needed.

It was, in the end, pretty much all that was needed. The grinding slog that followed resulted in a 68-50 East Regional victory for No. 5 seed Notre Dame at the Pepsi Center, the Irish passing one endurance test to face another Saturday against No. 4 seed Washington State.

"Last year's [loss to] Winthrop, we were playing not to lose, holding back a little bit," said forward Luke Harangody, who led the Irish with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

"Tonight we just went for it. You could see right away with the perimeter shooting getting right into it, getting out to a big lead, not holding anything back. That kind of set the tone for the whole game."

Kyle McAlarney added 15 points and Ayers 12 to give the Irish (25-7) their first NCAA tournament triumph and first shot at a Sweet 16 berth since 2003.

And that fact prettied up some of the unsavory sights.

Here is how the game began for Notre Dame: Hitting 8 of 13 shots, including 6 of 9 three-pointers. That produced a 17-0 run and a 16-point lead. Here is how matters ended for Notre Dame: 18-of-44 shooting (40.9 percent) over the last 32 minutes.

Thanks to a combination of defense, rebounding, timely shots and offensive ineptness from George Mason (33.3 percent shooting overall), it more than sufficed.

"I don't think Notre Dame had to change anything they planned to do," George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said. "Their whole game plan was pretty much executed."

Indeed, with 11 minutes left and a 14-point lead, Irish coach Mike Brey even elected to slow the pace to a crawl, gambling the Patriots (23-11) were incapable of making enough shots to catch up.

Although aesthetically unpleasing, it was a fairly sure thing. George Mason forward Will Thomas scored 25 points on 10 of 14 shooting and no other Patriot scored more than seven. Leading scorer Folarin Campbell was a miserable 1 of 12 from the floor for four points.

"We can play slow if we have to," Brey said. "We did a good job understanding the tempo."

That poise must extend to Saturday, when the Irish face Washington State, a notoriously methodical bunch that held Winthrop to 11 second-half points.