Feb. 4, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame freshman Cameron Biedscheid (St. Louis, Mo.) has been named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week for the first time in his career after helping the Irish (18-4, 6-3) to two wins last week, while senior Jack Cooley (Glenview, Ill.) has been named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the third time this season.
Both Biedscheid and Cooley were instrumental in Notre Dame’s two victories last week as the Irish prevailed 65-60 over Villanova at home on Wednesday, Jan. 30 and then defeated DePaul 79-71 in overtime on Saturday, Feb. 2 on the road. The two wins extended Notre Dame’s win streak to three straight.
Biedscheid put together his two best back-to-back efforts of his young career in the two contests last week. Coming off the bench against Villanova, he netted a career-high 18 points as all five of his field goals were from three-point range. Biedscheid was five-of-eight from the field overall and five-of-seven from three-point range. The 18 points also marked the fifth double-digit scoring effort of his career. In the victory at DePaul, he connected on three-of-eight shots from the field and was one-for-four from three-point range as he finished with seven points. Biedscheid has played in all 22 games this season and the leading freshman scorer for the Irish at 7.5 points per game.
Cooley had a monster week for the Irish as he averaged 21.5 points and 16.0 rebounds while recording his league-leading 13th and 14th double-doubles of the season. In the two contests, he shot a combined 55.6 percent from the field.
Against Villanova, Cooley finished with 17 points and a season-high 16 rebounds as he played 38 minutes and shot six-of-12 from the field. In the victory over DePaul, he had one of the most complete efforts of his career finishing with a season-high 26 points and grabbing 16 rebounds for the second consecutive outing. He played 42 minutes in the outing and connected on nine-of-15 shots from the field. The 26-point effort against the Blue Demons marked his second 20-plus point outing of the season. Cooley has scored in double figures in 20 of 22 contests and 43 times during his career while also registering 27 career double-doubles. He leads the Irish in both scoring and rebounds with career bests of 15.0 points and 11.3 rebounds.
Shabazz Napier of Connecticut was the BIG EAST Player of the Week, while Cooley was joined on the Weekly Honor Roll by Sean Kilpatrick of Cincinnati, Russ Smith of Louisville, Vander Blue of Marquette and Byrce Cotton of Providence.