Oct. 28, 2012
Quincy University
vs.
Notre Dame
Exhibition
October 29, 2012
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center
Notre Dame, Ind.
INTERNET:
UND.com (free video broadcast)
RADIO:
Broadcast on UND.com
Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
LaPhonso Ellis (analyst)
LIVE STATS:
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
– Notre Dame will open its 2012-13 exhibition slate Monday against Quincy University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
– Quincy is an NCAA Division II school from Quincy, Ill. Quincy is a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Hawks went 18-9 last season and finished third in the GLVC with an 11-7 league record. Quincy returns four starters from last season.
– A free live video broadcast of Monday’s game will be available on UND.com. Jack Nolan will handle play-by-play duties, while LaPhonso Ellis will serve as the analyst.
– Monday will be the first of two exhibition contests for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame will play host to Cardinal Stritch at 9 p.m. (ET) on Friday at Purcell Pavilion.
– Notre Dame opens regular-season play Nov. 10 with a home tilt against Evansville.
A LOOK BACK
– Notre Dame posted a 22-12 record last season and finished third in the BIG EAST regular-season standings with a 13-5 league mark. The Irish made their third straight appearance in the BIG EAST Championship semifinals.
– The Fighting Irish earned their third consecutive NCAA tournament bid and fell to Xavier, 67-63, in the second round in Greensboro, N.C. Notre Dame was the No. 7 seed in the South Region.
– Forward Jack Cooley led the Irish in scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.9 rpg) last season. Guard Jerian Grant had a team-best 5.0 assist-per-game average.
– Cooley garnered the BIG EAST Most Improved Player Award in addition to being a second-team all-league pick. Grant was named to the conference’s all-rookie team.
A VETERAN PRESENCE
– Notre Dame welcomes back the quintet of Eric Atkins (Jr./G), Pat Connaughton (So./G-F), Jack Cooley (Sr./F), Jerian Grant (Jr./G) and Scott Martin (GS/G) that started the final 15 games of last season. The Fighting Irish went 11-4 with that starting lineup.
– The Irish return 2,003 of their 2,257 total points from one season ago (88.7%). The team also brings back 88.7% of its minutes played from last season.
BUSY BEGINNING
– The Irish will start off the 2012-13 regular season with eight games in 20 days during the month of November.
108 YEARS AND STRONG
– The 2012-13 campaign marks the 108th season of basketball at Notre Dame and the 18th season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference. Notre Dame teams have posted an all-time record of 1723-939 for a .647 winning percentage. In 17 seasons as a member of the BIG EAST, the Irish own a 160-130 (.552) record in conference regular-season play.
FIGHTING IRISH PICKED THIRD IN BIG EAST PREASEASON COACHES’ POLL
– Notre Dame was picked to finish third in the BIG EAST’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Irish received one first-place vote. Defending BIG EAST tournament champion and 2012 NCAA Final Four participant, Louisville, was the choice to win this year’s regular-season crown as the Cardinals garnered 14 votes (coaches are not permitted to vote for their town team). Louisville finished the `11-’12 campaign with a final 31-6 record. Syracuse was tabbed for second place as the Orange are coming off a program-best 34-3 season.
COOLEY AND GRANT GARNER PRESEASON BIG EAST ACCOLADES
– Senior forward Jack Cooley earned a spot on the preseason all-BIG EAST first team. Cooley was a second team all-conference selection as a junior after averaging 14.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in league play.
– Junior guard Jerian Grant was named to the league’s preseason honorable mention team. Grant averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 assists per game in BIG EAST play last season en route to being named to the conference’s all-rookie team.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE
– Every Fighting Irish game during the 2012-13 season can be seen either on television or the internet. Notre Dame will have 21 of its games covered on the ESPN family of networks. The Irish also will have two games each on CBS and TruTV.
IRISH TO PLAY IN CVC CLASSIC
– Notre Dame’s season opener versus Evansville on Nov. 10 will be the first of two preliminary round games of the CVC (Coaches vs. Cancer) Classic. The Irish return to action two nights later against Monmouth in a second-round matchup.
– The Fighting Irish will then head to the newly-built Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. to take part in the championship rounds of the CVC Classic. Notre Dame will square off against St. Joseph’s on Nov. 16 in the semifinals and then play either Florida State or BYU the following night in the title game or third-place contest. TruTV will broadcast the championship rounds of the tournament.
NOTRE DAME TO HOST KENTUCKY IN SEC/BIG EAST CHALLENGE
– Notre Dame will play host to defending national champion Kentucky in the 2012 SEC/BIG EAST Challenge. The SEC/BIG EAST Classic consists of 12 games over a three-night span. The Wildcats will pay a visit to Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on Thursday, Nov. 29.
– This will be Notre Dame’s second appearance in the SEC/BIG EAST Challenge. In 2010, Notre Dame and Kentucky met at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., with the Wildcats taking home a 72-58 win.
– This year’s matchup will be the 61st meeting between the two teams with Kentucky owning a 42-18 advantage in the series. The Wildcats’ last visit to Purcell Pavilion was on March 25, 2009, in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament and the Irish snapped a 10-game losing streak to Kentucky with a 77-67 victory.
– The Wildcats are 5-2 all-time in seven appearances at Purcell Pavilion. It will be the seventh time under Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey that the Irish will face Kentucky.
IRISH RETURN TO CROSSROADS CLASSIC
– Notre Dame will battle Big Ten rival Purdue in the second annual Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The game between the Irish and the Boilermakers is part of a doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 15. Indiana and Butler meet in the first game at 2 p.m. (ET) followed by Notre Dame and Purdue at 4:30 p.m. (ET).
IRISH AIM FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT 20-WIN CAMPAIGN
– Notre Dame has reached the 20-win mark in each of the last six seasons and nine times in the last 12 seasons under head coach Mike Brey. The last time Irish teams reached the 20-win plateau in six straight campaigns was from 1983-89 under head coach Digger Phelps.
ELDER STATESMAN
– Mike Brey is entering his 13th season along the Irish sidelines. He is the second-longest tenured coach in the BIG EAST, behind only Jim Boeheim of Syracuse. Brey stands fifth all-time in career BIG EAST victories (both regular-season and tournament) with his 133-89 (.599) mark. He is one of nine coaches in BIG EAST history to record 100 conference wins.
POSTSEASON STRETCH
– Notre Dame has earned appearances in the postseason in each of the last 13 seasons, which marks the longest stretch in school history. The Irish have been to the NCAA Tournament on eight occasions and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) five times during this current stretch. Under head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame has played in the NCAAs eight times and NIT four times.
PLAYING WELL IN PURCELL
– The Fighting Irish are 100-7 in their last 107 games played at home. That .935 home winning percentage over the course of the last six seasons ranks second nationally.
– The Irish are 35-1 (.972) in their last 36 home games.
BIG EAST BEASTS
– Notre Dame is 31-9 (.775) over its last 40 BIG EAST regular-season contests, including a 24-6 (.800) mark in the last 30 league games.
– The Irish have gone 70-36 (.660) in BIG EAST regular-season play over the past six seasons. That is tied with Pittsburgh for the third-best mark in the league over that time span.
– Notre Dame has gone 47-6 (.887) at home in BIG EAST play over the last six seasons. That is the best home winning percentage for any BIG EAST school in league play over that time period.
NOTRE DAME LISTED AS POTENTIAL HOST FOR ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY
– The ESPN College Basketball GameDay cameras could be returning to Notre Dame during the 2012-13 campaign. ESPN released its College GameDay schedule and Notre Dame’s matchup with defending BIG EAST tournament champion and 2012 NCAA Final Four participant Louisville on February 9, 2013, at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center is listed as one of two potential sites for the game. The other game that day which could be part of the Saturday Primetime broadcast is Pittsburgh at Cincinnati.
– The site of the Feb. 9 contest will be chosen closer to the date of the game. The GameDay matchup will be played at 9 p.m. (ET) on ESPN and the game not chosen will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2 at 6 p.m. that evening.
– Notre Dame has hosted the Saturday morning show and primetime basketball contest on one other time — Jan, 24, 2009, when the Irish played Connecticut.
IRISH RANK NUMBER ONE IN 2012 GSR
– University of Notre Dame athletic programs again rank as the best in the country in graduation rates, based on Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figures released by the NCAA–including first-place ratings in the sports of football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and ice hockey.
– Among the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, Notre Dame had the highest percentage of its sports with 100 percent scores (for the seventh time in eight years), with a .863 figure (19 of 22).
– In men’s basketball, Notre Dame achieved a perfect 100 GSR rating, with only Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Utah State, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Western Kentucky also reaching the top slot.
– The four-year GSR data is based upon the entering classes from 2002 to 2005.