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And so has Rutgers' season.

After both No. 16 DePaul and No. 13 St. John's knocked off higher seeds in the first round of the Big East Tournament, Notre Dame restored order by beating Rutgers 61-50 to end the Scarlet Knights' season.

The No. 10 Irish (18-13) advanced to meet No. 7 West Virginia (21-10) Wednesday at 7 p.m. Notre Dame is looking at a likely NIT bid unless it can somehow get to the Big East final or win the tournament.

"We know we have a good shot at making a good run at this thing," said Notre Dame guard and Staten Island native Kyle McAlarney, who scored 11 points. "There are some good opportunities left here this week and that's all we're focusing on this week. I think the standings and the records get thrown out the window when you come to New York."

Rutgers (11-21), the No. 15 seed, lost for the 18th time in its last 20 games. The Knights went 2-16 during the Big East regular season, beating DePaul and South Florida.

"We just have to become a better offensive team," said Rutgers coach Fred Hill, lamenting his team's failure to score despite pulling down 14 offensive rebounds. "We've got to shoot the ball better. We've got to become more consistent in our decision-making. But when you get open shots you've got to knock them down if you want to give yourself a chance to win."

Tory Jackson scored 12 points for the Irish and Luke Harangody, the leading scorer in the Big East, tallied just seven points and 11 rebounds. Notre Dame outscored Rutgers 15-8 off the bench.

Hamady N'Diaye played tremendous defense on Harangody and led Rutgers with 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks.

Mike Rosario, a member of the Big East All-Rookie team, scored 12 on 5-of-17 shooting but hurt himself at the end of the game when he went flying into the stands.

"He banged his head but I think he's fine," Hill said.

Playing in their last college basketball game, Anthony Farmer, JR Inman and Jaron Griffin combined to have 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"It was a roller coaster ride but you're judged on how you bounce back, how you fight adversity," Farmer said of his senior season. "That's how good character is measured."

Because the tournament was expanded this year to include all 16 teams, the Knights got a shot at making a Cinderella run after failing to qualify last season.

But they shot 8-of-32 in the first half and trailed 28-19 at the break.

Rutgers got to within 33-32 on a 3-pointer by Earl Pettis, but the Irish rattled off a 12-0 run to go up 45-32 midway through the second half.

Notre Dame led 55-50 after Corey Chandler scored a basket with 1:07 remaining.

Tyrone Nash made both free throws to push the Irish lead to 57-50 with 58.9 seconds left.

"I was just concentrating on going down to the line and knocking them down," Nash said.

Jackson then scored on a breakaway to ice the game and give Notre Dame a 59-50 lead. "We haven't won enough games to be in the [NCAA Tournament] discussion but I think we're playing better and our frame of mind is better," Irish coach Mike Brey said.

Meantime, Rutgers will head into the offseason facing several major questions:

**Will Hill shake up his staff as some have suggested he do, possibly promoting Danny Nee to an assistant and giving him more authority?

**Will Corey Chandler transfer as sources close to him have said he will? If Chandler goes after his sophomore season, that leaves Rutgers with only two pure guards for next season, Rosario and Mike Coburn, neither of whom is a Big East-level point guard.

**Who is the point guard next year? The Rutgers staff is working hard on landing a JUCO floor general such as James Beatty of Miami Dade College. But if he doesn't commit, who runs the team?

**How much impact will 6-7 Florida transfer Jonathan Mitchell and highly touted 6-7 recruit Dane Miller have? Both are skilled players who should improve the frontcourt depth immediately, but much will depend on who is running the offense.