Tampa, FL -- (Sports Network) - Luke Harangody scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds as 19th-ranked Notre Dame survived a late charge from South Florida for a 67-60 win at the Sun Dome.

Rob Kurz added 14 points for Notre Dame (24-6, 14-4 Big East), winners of three straight and six of seven overall heading into postseason play. Kyle McAlarney and Zach Hillesland each notched 10 points, and Hillesland added seven boards.

The Fighting Irish have a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament, and will be off until their quarterfinal matchup Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

"Thats an awfully good basketball team," said USF head coach Stan Heath. "They're real skilled; they shoot it they pass it and they're hard to guard. They can go on 10-0 runs, just like that."

Dominique Jones scored 20 points and hauled in seven rebounds for South Florida (12-19, 3-15), which finished its season with five losses in six games, as the Bulls failed to qualify for the Big East Tournament. Mobolaji Ajayi contributed 12 points and Kentrell Gransberry scored 11, while both grabbed nine boards.

Leading by nine at intermission, the Irish broke the game wide open straight out of halftime. Harangody scored two straight baskets to push the lead to 13, setting off a 16-6 run to open the half, punctuated when McAlarney's three gave Notre Dame a 52-33 edge just over four minutes into the session.

But, South Florida rattled off the next dozen points, cutting the Notre Dame lead to 52-45 on Gransberry's layup with 10:54 to play The squads traded baskets for the next four minutes, until Jesus Verdejo drilled a three to pull the Bulls within 56-51 with 6:29 left.

"I thought our guys just continued to fight," Heath said. "Its kind of a snap shot; this games kind of a snap shot of our season. Especially the last few weeks where we battle these terrific teams, these teams that are ranked, these teams that are going to do very well in postseason. We go right down to the wire and yet, a play here and there, whether it be a defensive stop, a free throw, a shot, whatever it was, it just didnt happen for us this year. It didnt happen for us today. "

Verdejo and Jones then hit back-to-back baskets to bring the Bulls within a single point, 56-55, with 5:14 on the clock. A jumper from Kurz and a pair of free throws from Harangody then pushed the margin back to five with 4:14 remaining.

Chris Howard's jumper at the 3:07 mark again brought the Bulls within two, but Harangody responded nine seconds later with a layup, then made 1-of-2 at the free throw line for a 63-58 advantage with 2:15 to play.

"(Harangody's) a great player," Gransberry said. "As Coach said in the locker room he went from no name. Coach said players are made not born. Hes going to be the MVP of this league and hats off to him, hes a great player. He just works hard and gets the job done"

Both teams then went ice cold, as the Irish missed five straight free throws before Ryan Ayers hit a pair for a 65-58 edge with 22 seconds to play. Jones then nailed a jumper to pull the Bulls within five with South Florida's first points in nearly three minutes.

McAlarney drained two more from the charity stripe, and the Fighting Irish held on for the seven-point triumph.

The Fighting Irish were smoking early, and made eight of their first nine shots to open up a 18-5 lead, capped off by McAlarney's three with just 5:39 gone.

Notre Dame cooled off from the field, finishing the half 16-for-31, but the Bulls never got closer than three as the Irish took a 36-27 lead into halftime after Tory Jackson drilled a three to beat the buzzer.

Game Notes

Notre Dame shot 51 percent from the field, while South Florida finished at 38.5 percent...Both teams struggled from three-point range; Notre Dame went 5-of-16, while South Florida was just 3-for-19...Harangody finished 9-of-13 from the floor...Notre Dame holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools...The Irish finished the season at 5-4 on the road.