Nov. 1, 2012
INTERNET:
UND.com (free video broadcast)
RADIO:
Broadcast on UND.com
Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
Jordan Cornette (analyst)
LIVE STATS:
#22/23 IRISH CLOSE EXHIBITION PLAY FRIDAY AGAINST CARDINAL STRITCH
– No. 22/23 Notre Dame will play host to Cardinal Stritch (NAIA) in exhibition action Friday night inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. (ET), which is one hour earlier than originally scheduled.
– The game will follow the Notre Dame football pep rally, which will take place from 5-6 p.m. inside Purcell Pavilion.
– The Notre Dame Ticket Office is running a special promotion for Friday’s contest. If you come to the ticket office window and show your ticket for Saturday’s Notre Dame-Pittsburgh football game, you will receive a basketball ticket at half price.
– This is the second and final exhibition contest for the Fighting Irish, who topped Quincy University (NCAA Division II) 111-52 on Monday at Purcell Pavilion.
– A free live video broadcast of Friday’s game will be available on UND.com. Jack Nolan will handle play-by-play duties, while Jordan Cornette will serve as the analyst.
– Notre Dame opens regular-season play Nov. 10 with a home tilt against Evansville.
A LOOK AT CARDINAL STRITCH
– Cardinal Stritch is a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school located in Milwaukee, Wis. The Wolves are ranked fifth in the NAIA preseason poll. The Wolves went 30-6 overall last season and 14-0 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC).
– Along with winning the CCAC regular-season title, the Wolves captured the CCAC tournament crown and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament. Cardinal Stritch finished the 2011-12 season ranked No. 6 in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Division II Coaches’ Poll.
FIGHTING IRISH ROLL IN EXHIBITION OPENER
– Notre Dame opened its exhibition slate Monday with a 111-52 win over Quincy University, an NCAA Division II school from Quincy, Ill.
– Six Fighting Irish players – Jack Cooley (21), Jerian Grant (19), Eric Atkins (17), Pat Connaughton (12), Garrick Sherman (12) and Cameron Biedscheid (12) – scored in double-figures.
– The Irish shot 43-69 (.623) from the floor, including 11-27 (.407) from three-point range. Aktins was 6-for-6 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from three-point range. Sherman, who was playing in an Irish uniform for the first time after sitting out all of last season after transferring from Michigan State, made all five of his field goal attempts.
– Notre Dame had 30 assists on its 43 made field goals. Atkins had a game-high 13 assists, while Grant dished out eight helpers. Atkins also had five steals.
– Connaughton and Sherman both grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while Cooley added seven boards and five steals.
IN THE POLLS
– Notre Dame is No. 22 in the Associated Press preseason poll and No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today preseason coaches poll. Three Fighting Irish opponents appear in the top 10 of both rankings. Louisville (#2), Kentucky (#3) and Syracuse (#9) are in the same spot in both polls. Notre Dame will face Louisville twice during the regular season.
LOOKING 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.