Washington ? Notre Dame won’t be sneaking up on any more opponents this season.

The unranked Fighting Irish won their third straight game over a ranked team, stunning No. 2 Texas 98-92 on Sunday in the championship game of the BB&T Classic.

“We came into Washington off the radar screen,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “We are going to be all over the radar screen now.”

In a matchup of two of the nation’s best point guards, Notre Dame’s Chris Thomas got the better of Texas’ T.J. Ford down the stretch.

Thomas finished with 19 points and eight assists and made two free throws with 25 seconds remaining to give Notre Dame (8-1) a 96-92 lead.

The Longhorns (5-1) erased a 13-point second-half deficit and led by five with three minutes remaining, but Thomas’ three-pointer with 2:06 left gave the Irish an 85-83 lead they never relinquished.

“I guess if you didn’t care who won, it was a great game,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “It certainly was a game of runs.”

Ford, who led the nation in assists last season as a freshman, had 21 points and 11 assists and was named tournament MVP, but down the stretch he had a driving layup blocked, turned the ball over and missed a three-pointer that could have brought the Longhorns within a point in the game’s final seconds.

“We just had to make shots and that’s what we didn’t do towards the end – especially me,” Ford said.

The Irish were 13-of-27 from three-point range, and the Longhorns fared even better, going 14-of-25. Sydmill Harris, who scored a career-high 25 points for Texas, and Brian Boddicker shot a combined 10-of-11 from three-point range.

“I didn’t think they could shoot at that level,” Brey said of the Longhorns, who had shot 30 percent from three-point range this season. “When one guy gets going, it gets contagious.”

Notre Dame's Torin Francis, right, and Texas' James Thomas contest a rebound. The Irish stunned the second-ranked Longhorns, 98-92, on Saturday in Washington.

Despite the hot outside shooting from both teams, Barnes said freshman forward Torin Francis made the difference for the Irish, scoring 21 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking eight shots. He credited Francis with shutting down Texas’ big men, particularly center James Thomas, who was 1-of-6 from the field and scored six points.

“We had the game won, but we gave it away because of rebounding,” Barnes said.

“Torin has taken a huge step forward,” Brey said.

Texas trailed 57-44 with 18:54 remaining, then went on a 30-11 run that gave it a 76-70 lead with 8:45 remaining.

But the Irish, trailing 83-78 with three minutes left, responded with a 12-0 run, capped by Dan Miller’s three-pointer with 1:20 remaining to make it 90-83.

Notre Dame’s victory follows wins over No. 13 Marquette and No. 9 Maryland, the latter on Saturday in the first round of the tournament.

The last time an unranked team beat ranked teams in three consecutive games was last year when Arizona opened the season with victories over No. 2 Maryland, No. 6 Florida and No. 23 Texas.

Nebraska 80, No. 20 Minnesota 60

Lincoln, Neb. – Andrew Drevo had career-highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead Nebraska to victory over No. 20 Minnesota.

Drevo, a transfer from Division II Morningside, scored 10 points as the Cornhuskers took a 16-0 lead.

The Gophers (4-1) playing their third game in five days, missed their first five shots from the field and committed five turnovers before Scott Bauer scored 5:59 into the game to end the drought.

Oklahoma State 77, Northwestern State 51

Stillwater, Okla. – Melvin Sanders scored 16 points and Tony Allen added 15 points and five steals as Oklahoma State beat Northwestern State (La.).

The Cowboys had 18 steals – Victor Williams grabbed seven along with 12 points – and held NSU to under 39 percent shooting from the field.