It was not the result they hoped for, but the Huskies made Northeastern proud Thursday afternoon at the NCAA tournament, battling Notre Dame for 40 minutes and unleashing a passionate, fearless effort to give one of the nation’s top teams all it could handle before losing to the Fighting Irish 69-65.

After going through the handshake line, the Northeastern players and coaches walked across the court here at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh and clapped and waved their hands in appreciation to the Northeastern fans who had roared throughout the game and had their backs until the final buzzer sounded. The fans returned the feeling with one more loud cheer.

“I thought our team competed buzzer to buzzer,” head coach Bill Coen said during a postgame press conference. “We left it out on the floor, as you would expect in this type of venue, in this type of environment. I just couldn’t be more proud of this group of young men. They never stopped believing in themselves. They took care of each other on and off the court. They pushed each other. They held each other accountable all year long. And they never, never gave in. So I just couldn’t be more proud.”

Photos by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University