The Players Era Festival in Las Vegas was always going to be a tough challenge for Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish were slated to face Rutgers and Houston, with a third game against an opponent to be determined after Wednesday's matchups.

Notre Dame star guard Markus Burton will be out after injuring his knee in the Fighting Irish's 85-84 overtime loss to Rutgers on Tuesday, and will be evaluated on a "week-to-week

In a game that featured 12 ties and 17 lead changes, Irish power forward Paul Atkinson’s rebound basket with 1.2 seconds left gave Notre Dame an 89-87 victory and sent the Irish on to face Alabama in the first round in San Diego. Atkinson scored a game-high 26 points with six rebounds.