Dec. 27, 2013
Game 13
Canisius (8-4)
vs.
Notre Dame (8-4)
Sunday, Dec. 29, 2013
5 p.m. (ET)
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center
Notre Dame, Ind.
TV/INTERNET
ESPNU/WatchESPN
Mike Couzens (play-by-play)
LaPhonso Ellis (analyst)
RADIO
Broadcast on WatchND.tv (free)
Sirius/XM 108
Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
Jordan Cornette (analyst)
LIVE STATS
IRISH CONCLUDE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE AGAINST CANISIUS
– Notre Dame (8-4) will conclude its non-conference slate Sunday against Canisius (8-4). Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. (ET) inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
– The game will be broadcast by ESPNU/WatchESPN with Mike Couzens (play-by-play) and former Notre Dame great LaPhonso Ellis (analyst) calling the action.
– A free audio broadcast will be available on WatchND.tv. Jack Nolan will handle play-by-play duties, while former Irish standout Jordan Cornette will serve as the analyst. The broadcast can also be heard on The Notre Basketball Radio Network headed by WSBT 96.1 FM and 960 AM in South Bend. A complete affiliate list is available on page 5 of this notes packet. The broadcast also is available on Sirius/XM 108.
– Sunday’s showdown will be just the third game for the Irish in a span of 16 days. Notre Dame is coming off a 64-61 setback to Ohio State on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
THE CANISIUS SERIES
– Sunday will be the 24th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Canisius and the Fighting Irish hold a 19-4 advantage in the series, including a 3-0 mark under head coach Mike Brey. The Irish won the last meeting, 93-75, on Dec. 22, 2002, at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame has won the last six matchups with the Golden Griffins.
– Canisius is 0-7 all-time at Notre Dame.
– The two programs met 18 times between 1937 and 1962.
A MEETING WITH THE MAAC
– Notre Dame is 48-7 against teams currently in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). That includes an 11-0 mark under head coach Mike Brey. Canisius is the first MAAC opponent for the Irish since an 89-67 win over Niagara on Dec. 21, 2012.
– The Fighting Irish have won 14 straight games against MAAC opponents. Notre Dame’s last loss to a MAAC school was a 65-44 setback to Manhattan on Feb. 6, 1996, inside Madison Square Garden.
– Notre Dame is 29-1 at home against MAAC competition.
SHERMAN STEPPING UP
– Senior center Garrick Sherman has scored in double-figures in each of the last nine games (a career-best streak). It is the longest current streak for any Irish player. He is averaging career-bests in points (14.3) and rebounds (7.4). The rebound mark leads the Irish.
– Sherman is shooting a team-best 53.7% (66-123) from the field. He also is 39-53 (.736) from the free throw line. Heading into the season, Sherman was just 31-47 (66.0%) from the line at Notre Dame and was a career 55.7% (49-88) free-throw shooter.
– He tallied a career-high 29 points at Iowa on Dec. 3. Those are the most points for any Irish player this season. He was 12-of-18 from the field against the Hawkeyes.
– Sherman recorded the first double-double of his career with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds versus Bryant on Dec. 9. He followed that up with another double-double as he finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds against North Dakota State.
PAT’s IMPACT
– Junior swingman Pat Connaughton is averaging career-bests of 13.8 points (third-leading scorer) and 7.3 rebounds (second-leading rebounder). He has been in double-figures in scoring this season in all but two games (Santa Clara and Army). His current seven-game double-figure scoring streak is the longest of his career.
– Connaughton has topped the 20-point mark twice this season (Delaware 21, North Dakota State 21).
– Connaughton leads the team with three double-doubles this season.
KNIGHT AND SHERMAN JOIN ATKINS AND CONNAUGHTON AS IRISH CAPTAINS
– Tom Knight (GS/F) and Garrick Sherman (Sr./C) will serve as captains for the remainder of the 2013-14 campaign alongside teammates Eric Atkins (Sr./G) and Pat Connaughton (Jr./G-F). The announcement was made Friday by Irish head coach Mike Brey.
– The last time Notre Dame added a captain at midseason was two years ago (during the 2011-12 campaign) when Atkins, then a sophomore, served as a tri-captain with Tim Abromaitis and Scott Martin.
– Atkins is the first three-time captain in the 109-history of the program, while Connaughton, Sherman and Knight are first-time captains.
ASSISTING THE IRISH
– Senior point guard Eric Atkins’ 2.37 career assist-to-turnover ratio ranks second among all active Division I players.
– Atkins has 484 careers assists and just 204 turnovers. The career assist total currently ranks 13th nationally. This season, Atkins has 51 assists and just 16 turnovers for a 3.19 assist-to-turnover, which ranks 28th nationally and is the sixth-best mark among ACC players.
TAKING CARE OF THE BASKETBALL
– Notre Dame ranks fourth nationally and first in the ACC with a 1.76 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Irish have the country’s sixth-best assists-per-game mark (17.9), which also is first in the ACC.
– The Irish have dished off 20 or more assists in five contests this season and they have committed fewer than 10 turnovers in six games.
CASHING IN FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
– Notre Dame ranks 16th nationally in free throw percentage (.760). That is the third-best percentage in the ACC.
DRAINING FROM DEEP
– Eric Atkins (136) and Pat Connaughton (131) rank 13th and 14th, respectively, in Notre Dame history in three-point field goals made.
– Connaughton is 32-of-73 (.438) from three-point range this season, while Atkins is 19-of-52 (.365).
IRONMEN
– Junior Pat Connaughton has never missed a game during his Fighting Irish career. He has played in all 81 games, including 65 starts. Connaughton has started 62 consecutive contests. He is averaging 33.7 minutes per game this season.
– Senior point guard Eric Atkins has played in 77 straight games (all starts). He has only missed two contests during his Notre Dame career and has competed in 113 games (85 starts). Atkins is averaging a team-high 35.8 minutes per game this season. He is averaging 34.0 minutes per game during his career.
PLAYING WELL IN PURCELL
– The Fighting Irish are 124-11 in their last 135 games played at home. That .919 home winning percentage over the course of the last eight seasons ranks fifth nationally.
– Notre Dame is 59-5 (.922) in its last 64 home games.
FIGHTING IRISH FACTS
– Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Notre Dame is 35-2 when shooting 50% or above from the field, 61-5 when outrebounding its opponent and 65-5 when leading at halftime.
– Over the last five seasons, Notre Dame is 22-18 (.550) against teams ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll, including a 12-2 mark at home.
– Notre Dame is 4-4 in its last eight showdowns with a team ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll. The Irish are 17-27 against teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll under head coach Mike Brey.
TRUE FRESHMAN START
– Irish freshman Demetrius Jackson earned the first start of his young career on Dec. 1 against Cornell. He has started each of the last seven games.
– Jackson scored 11 points against the Big Red in 27 minutes of action while also dishing off four assists and committing just one turnover. – He has scored in double figures four times this season and he posted career-highs in points (13) and rebounds (8) against Santa Clara.
– Current junior Pat Connaughton was the last true freshman to start for the Irish in 2011-12. He started 18 of the 34 games he played in during his first season.
NOTRE DAME’S NEW MOTTO #ONEMORE
– Prior to the 2013-14 campaign, Notre Dame men’s basketball players would close out their huddles with the slogan “Together.” That all changed this season as the team has adopted a new motto “One More” when it breaks its huddles.
– The reference was developed this summer when the team went through a two-day workout session with The Program. Founded in 2008, The Program’s goal is to provide professional and collegiate athletic teams with the best leadership development and team building services in the country. The objective of The Program is to help athletes understand and internalize this reality, and in doing so take their leadership and teamwork skills to the next level — the championship level.
– Notre Dame’s One More theme signifies the team’s desire and ability to go beyond the normal levels of preparation — it represents the desire to win one more game by focusing on the business at hand in order to achieve that goal.
– For the Ohio State game, the Irish debuted One More shooting shirts for the first time. The motto has found its way onto Notre Dame Basketball social media circles with the hashtag #OneMore.
ATKINS ON BOB COUSY AWARD WATCH LIST
– Senior Eric Atkins was named to the watch list for the 2014 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award. Atkins is averaging 11.8 points and 4.3 assists per game this season and boasts a 3.19 assist-to-turnover ratio.
– Atkins has 1,118 career points and 484 assists.
– The annual honor, announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and is named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic point guard Bob Cousy, recognizes the top point guards in men’s basketball. A committee of well-respected media members and influential people within collegiate basketball from around the country comprise the committee. This year’s watch list will be narrowed down to a final 20 in early February, then a final five in early March.
DIGGER PHELPS TO BE INDUCTED INTO NOTRE DAME BASKETBALL RING OF HONOR
– Forty years to the day that one of the greatest moments in Notre Dame’s illustrious athletics history occurred, the man who engineered the stunning 71-70 victory over top-ranked UCLA on Jan. 19, 1974, that ended the Bruins 88-game win streak will be inducted into the Notre Dame Basketball Ring of Honor. Richard “Digger” Phelps will become the sixth inductee into the Ring of Honor at halftime of the Fighting Irish men’s basketball game against Virginia Tech on Jan. 19, 2014.
– Phelps, who led Notre Dame to a sterling 393-197 record (.666) over his 20 seasons (1971-91) on the Irish hardwood, will become the first coach inducted into the Ring of Honor. The all-time winningest men’s basketball coach at Notre Dame, he will join Austin Carr, Adrian Dantley, Skylar Diggins, Luke Harangody and Ruth Riley. Diggins was inducted at the Notre Dame women’s basketball game against Valparaiso on Nov. 16.
NOTRE DAME STUDENT-ATHLETES AGAIN RANK #1 IN NCAA GRS
– For the eighth time in nine years, the University of Notre Dame ranks number one on a percentage basis in terms of number of Graduation Success Rate (GSR) 100 scores, among all NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
– Twenty of 22 athletics programs at Notre Dame compiled graduation rates of 100 percent, including the men’s basketball team, according to the ninth year of GSR measurements developed by the NCAA. It’s the first time Notre Dame’s programs have combined for 20 perfect scores-after four previous years with 19.
– None of the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly NCAA Division I-A) programs in the country had a higher percentage of 100 GSR scores than did Notre Dame with its .909 number (20 of 22). – In addition, Notre Dame ranked second among all FBS institutions with nine perfect scores among 22 sports (.409) in the federal graduation rate analysis.
IRISH ENTER THE ACC
– Following 18 seasons in the BIG EAST Conference, Notre Dame is entering its first season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Notre Dame will face each of the other 14 ACC member schools at least once during this season’s 18-game conference schedule. Along with home-and-away dates with its “partner schools” Boston College and Georgia Tech, Notre Dame will meet both North Carolina and Virginia twice during the season. The Fighting Irish also will play host to Clemson, Duke, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech. Notre Dame’s other road opponents are Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Syracuse and Wake Forest.
– The 2014 ACC men’s basketball tournament is scheduled for March 12-16 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
– Notre Dame was picked to finish fifth in its inaugural season of Atlantic Coast Conference play according to a vote of media in attendance at the league’s annual “Operation Basketball.” Duke was picked to win the ACC title.
BREY NO STRANGER TO THE ACC
– Perhaps no person is better prepared to navigate the Irish basketball program into its new basketball conference home than head coach Mike Brey. A Rockville, Md., native, he grew up a Maryland Terrapin basketball fan and his first coaching job in the collegiate ranks was as an assistant coach at Duke for eight seasons.
– Beginning in 1987-88, he helped Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski take his teams to six NCAA Final Fours and four national title games while winning back-to-back national titles in 1991 and 1992. The Blue Devils posted a sterling 216-65 record for a 76.8 winning percentage during his tenure at the school. Brey recruited and worked daily with four of the greatest players in that program’s history — Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill.
POSTSEASON STRETCH
– Notre Dame has earned appearances in the postseason in each of the last 14 seasons, which marks the longest stretch in school history. The Irish have been to the NCAA Championship on nine 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 nine times, including a current stretch of four straight trips, and NIT four times.
NOTRE DAME LOOKS TO NOTCH ANOTHER 20-WIN CAMPAIGN
– The Irish have recorded seven straight 20-win seasons. It’s the first time in program history that Notre Dame has compiled seven consecutive 20-win campaigns. The Fighting Irish have reached the 20-win plateau 10 times in 13 seasons under head coach Mike Brey.
– Last season’s 25 wins were tied for the second-most of the Brey era. The most wins for the Irish under Brey are 27 (27-7) in 2010-11.
DOUBLE DUTY
– Junior guard/forward Pat Connaughton also is a standout pitcher on the Fighting Irish baseball team. He has appeared in 22 games, including 20 starts, and boasts an 8-6 career record with a 2.43 earned-run average (ERA). He has logged 92.2 innings and has notched 69 strikeouts. As a sophomore, Connaughton went 4-2 and posted a 1.71 ERA.
– Connaughton recently was named the No. 46 prospect among 2014 draft-eligible players by Perfect Game in the publication’s post-fall college top-50 list. The publication ranked Connaughton as the No. 22 right-handed pitcher.
– Connaughton was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 50th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
BREY TO BE INDUCTED INTO GEORGE WASHINGTON ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
– In January, Irish head coach Mike Brey will be inducted into the George Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame. Brey will be honored by his alma mater on the eve of Notre Dame’s matchup with Maryland on Tuesday, Jan. 14, during a special halftime ceremony at the Colonials’ men’s basketball game against VCU at the Charles E. Smith Center.
– Brey played one season (1981-82) at George Washington after transferring from Northwestern State. During his one season on the Colonials’ roster, he averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 assists while serving as team captain. He led George Washington in assists that season with 116 in 24 games and earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education.
– Brey is among seven former student-athletes comprising the 2014 George Washington Athletics Hall of Fame class. In addition to Brey, the class includes Greg Condon (’03, Baseball), Kwame Evans (’96, Men’s Basketball), Cathy Joens (’04, Women’s Basketball), Elena Meyer (’07, Softball) and Kim Warner (’04, Women’s Soccer).
KNIGHT A NOMINEE FOR NABC GOOD WORKS TEAM
– Senior forward Tom Knight is among 117 nominees for the 2014 Allstate NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Good Works Teams. The award recognizes a select group of college basketball student-athletes who have made significant contributions to the greater good of their communities through volunteerism and civic service.
NOTRE DAME ADDS TWO FRONTLINE PLAYERS FOR 2014-15 CAMPAIGN
– Irish head coach Mike Brey recently announced the signing of two frontcourt players to his 2014-15 roster. Bonzie Colson, Jr., a 6-6, 200-pound forward out of New Bedford, Mass., and Martin Geben, a 6-9, 230-pound forward from Vilnius, Lithuania, have signed National Letters of Intent during the early signing period. The duo will enroll at Notre Dame in the fall of 2014.