Feb. 2, 2014
Game 23
Notre Dame (12-10, 3-6 ACC)
vs.
#1 Syracuse (21-0, 8-0 ACC)
Monday, Feb. 3, 2014
7 p.m. (ET)
Carrier Dome (35,012)
Syracuse, N.Y.
TV/INTERNET
ESPN/WatchESPN
Sean McDonough (play-by-play)
Jay Bilas (analyst)
Jeannine Edwards (reporter)
RADIO
Broadcast on WatchND.tv (free)
Sirius 92/XM 190
Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
LIVE STATS
FIGHTING IRISH TRAVEL TO SYRACUSE TO FACE NO. 1 ORANGE ON BIG MONDAY
– Notre Dame (12-10, 3-6) travels to No. 1 Syracuse (21-0, 8-0) for an ESPN Big Monday showdown inside the Carrier Dome. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. (ET).
– The contest will be broadcast on ESPN/WatchESPN with Sean McDonough (play-by-play) , Jay Bilas (analyst) and Jeannine Edwards (reporter) calling the action.
– A free audio broadcast will be available on WatchND.tv. Jack Nolan will call the action. 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 92/XM 190.
– This will be the only regular-season meeting between the Irish and Orange.
– Both Notre Dame and Syracuse are coming off overtime wins on Saturday. The Irish bested Boston College, 76-73, while the Orange topped Duke, 91-89.
– Saturday’s clash with Boston College was the 600th career game for Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey (396-204).
THE SYRACUSE SERIES
– Monday will be the 45th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Syracuse. The Orange hold a 25-19 advantage in the series. Notre Dame is 4-4 in its last eight encounters with Syracuse.
– Notre Dame’s last win over Syracuse was a 67-58 victory over the top-ranked Orange on Jan. 21, 2012, inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
– Notre Dame is 9-12 all-time at Syracuse. The Orange topped the Irish last season, 63-47, inside the Carrier Dome. Notre Dame’s last victory at Syracuse was a 103-91 triumph on Jan. 30, 2007.
– The Irish went 9-20 against the Orange in BIG EAST play. That included a 3-10 mark inside the Carrier Dome.
– Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey is 6-13 all-time against Syracuse. Brey’s Irish squads are 2-7 at Syracuse.
FIGHTING IRISH AGAINST THE TOP 10
– Notre Dame is 5-4 in its last nine showdowns with an AP top-10 foe. The Irish are 18-27 against teams ranked in the top-10 of the AP poll under Brey.
OVERTIME EXCELLENCE
– Saturday’s 76-73 win over Boston College improved Notre Dame to 8-1 in its last nine overtime contests. The Fighting Irish have won five straight games that have been decided in overtime. Notre Dame is 15-9 in overtime contests under head coach Mike Brey.
– The Fighting Irish are 2-0 in overtime this season. Notre Dame topped Canisius 87-81 in overtime on Dec. 29.
ATKINS NETS OT GAME WINNER
– Eric Atkins’ game-winning three-pointer with less than a second left in overtime in Saturday’s 76-73 win over Boston College marked the first time Notre Dame won on a “last-second” shot since Tory Jackson’s layup against New Mexico with two seconds left that gave the Irish a 70-68 victory in the second round of the 2009 Postseason NIT.
HOLDING DOWN HANLAN
– Boston College sophomore guard Olivier Hanlan entered Saturday’s game as the third-leading scorer in the ACC (18.0 ppg. in league play) and the Irish held him to a season-low five points.
CLOSE LOSSES IN LEAGUE PLAY
– Heading into Tuesday night’s loss to Virginia, Notre Dame’s five ACC losses had been by a combined 29 points (5.8 ppg.).
– The 68-53 loss to Virginia was the first double-digit loss for the Irish in conference play.
– Notre Dame’s 10 setbacks this season have been by a total of just 69 points (6.9 ppg.).
ATKINS ON THE ATTACK
– Senior point guard Eric Atkins has scored in double-figures in eight of nine ACC games and he is averaging a team-best 15.9 ppg. in ACC play, which ranks seventh in the league.
– Atkins tallied a game-high 24 points on Saturday against Boston College and that performance was capped with the game-winning three-pointer with less than a second left in overtime. That was his fifth 20-plus point effort of the season (third in ACC play).
– Atkins was named ACC Player of the Week in consecutive weeks (Dec. 30 and Jan. 6).
– His 1,291 career points are the fourth-most among active ACC players, while his 538 career assists are the most for any current ACC player.
– He recorded his first double-double of the season (fifth of his career) by tallying 19 points and 11 assists in the Jan. 4 win over Duke. The 11 assists are the most for an ACC player in a league game this season.
– He scored a career-high 30 points and played all 45 minutes in the overtime victory over Canisius on Dec. 29. Atkins deposited a career-high six three pointers (on eight attempts). The six treys are a team-high total this season.
ATKINS ASSISTING THE IRISH
– Senior point guard Eric Atkins’ 2.33 career assist-to-turnover ratio ranks fourth among all active Division I players.
– Atkins has 538 careers assists and just 231 turnovers. The career assist total currently ranks 13th nationally. This season, Atkins has 105 assists and 43 turnovers for a 2.44 assist-to-turnover ratio, which is sixth-best in the ACC.
– Atkins has dished off 100-plus assists in each of his four seasons. He is one of four players in Notre Dame history to dish off 100-plus assists in four consecutive seasons. The other three players are Chris Thomas (2001-05), Tory Jackson (2006-10) and David Rivers (1984-88).
TAKING CARE OF THE BASKETBALL
– Notre Dame ranks eighth nationally (third in the ACC) with a 1.51 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Irish have the country’s 15th-best assists-per-game mark (15.9), which is second 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 11 games.
PAT PERFORMING WELL IN ACC PLAY
– Junior swingman Pat Connaughton is averaging 13.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists in ACC play. He has scored in double figures in all but two league games (Florida State and Virginia) this season.
– Connaughton’s 22 three-pointers in ACC games are the third-most in the league.
– Connaughton tied a season-high mark with 21 points against Virginia Tech on Jan. 19. It was the third time this season (first in ACC play) and seventh time of his career that he scored 20 or more points in a game.
– He has four double-doubles (points & rebounds) this season and six for his career. – Connaughton is averaging career-bests of 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds this season. Last season, he averaged 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds.
BURGETT SURGERY SUCCESSFUL
– Sophomore forward Austin Burgett on Wednesday underwent outpatient cardiac procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat.
– Burgett experienced an abnormally fast heartbeat in the second half of Notre Dame’s loss at Florida State on Jan. 21.
– He is expected to miss the next couple of weeks.
– Burgett was on the bench for Saturday’s game against Boston College, but did not travel with the team to Syracuse.
SHERMAN COMPILING A SOLID SEASON
– Senior center Garrick Sherman is averaging career-bests in points (14.5) and rebounds (8.0) this season. In ACC play, he ranks 14th in scoring (14.4 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (8.6 rpg).
– Sherman’s 52.2% shooting percentage this season ranks first among all ACC players. He is shooting 72.3% (60-83) 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 (Dec. 3).
– Sherman has a team-high 18 blocked shots this season.
SHERMAN PUTTING ON A DOUBLE-DOUBLE DISPLAY
– Garrick Sherman has six double-doubles this season, including three in ACC play.
– One of his strongest showings of the year came against North Carolina State as he finished with 21 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. The 18 boards are tied for the most for an ACC player in a league game this season.
– He scored 20 or more points in consecutive games for the first time of his career when he tallied 21 and 20 against Florida State and Wake Forest, respectively.
SHUFFLING THE STARTERS
– Notre Dame has used eight different starting lineups this season. The Irish have sent out a different starting five four times in the last six games.
– Eric Atkins, Pat Connaughton and Garrick Sherman have started all 22 games this season, while Demetrius Jackson (15), Zach Auguste (6), Tom Knight (5), Austin Burgett (3) and Steve Vasturia (3) also have been in the starting lineup this season.
FRESHMEN IN THE STARTING FIVE
– Notre Dame had two freshmen — Demetrius Jackson and Steve Vasturia — in the starting lineup against Maryland on Jan. 15.
– Prior to that contest, the last time the Irish had two freshmen in the starting lineup was during the 2006-07 campaign when rookies Luke Harangody and Tory Jackson both earned multiple starts throughout the season.
ROAD WOES
– Notre Dame has lost its first five road games of a season for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign when the Irish started 0-8 on the road. This is the first five-game road losing streak for the Fighting Irish since they dropped five straight during the 2009-10 season.
DRAINING FROM DEEP
– Eric Atkins (158) and Pat Connaughton (153) rank 11th and 13th, respectively, in Notre Dame history in three-point field goals made.
– Connaughton has a team-high 54 three-pointers this season, while Atkins is second with 41.
– As a team, Notre Dame is shooting 36.0% from beyond the arc. That ranks fifth in the ACC.
IRONMEN
– Junior Pat Connaughton has never missed a game during his Fighting Irish career. He has played in all 91 games, including 75 starts. Connaughton has started 72 consecutive contests.
– Senior point guard Eric Atkins has played in 87 straight games (all starts). He has only missed two contests during his Notre Dame career and has competed in 123 games (95 starts). Atkins is tied for 11th on Notre Dame’s career games played list and is tied for 10th in games started.
– Both Atkins and Connaughton played all 45 minutes in Saturday’s win over Boston College. It marked the third time in the last four games that Connaughton played every minute.
– Atkins has played 39 or more minutes in nine games this season, while Connaughton has done so on seven occasions.
– Connaughton (38.67) and Atkins (38.56) rank second and third, respectively, in minutes played per game in ACC contests.
FIGHTING IRISH FACTS
– Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Notre Dame is 36-2 when shooting 50% or above from the field, 64-8 when outrebounding its opponent and 66-6 when leading at halftime.
DIGGER PHELPS BECOMES SIXTH INDUCTEE INTO RING OF HONOR
– Former Irish head coach Digger Phelps became the sixth inductee into Notre Dame’s Ring of Honor during halftime of the Notre Dame-Virginia Tech game on Jan. 19.
– More than two dozen of Phelps’ former players from his 20-season era (1971-91) returned to campus to see their former head coach inducted into the Ring of Honor.
– Notre Dame also commemorated the 40th anniversary of Notre Dame ending UCLA’s 88-game win streak. The landmark victory took place at Notre Dame on Jan. 19, 1974. The win streak still remains the longest in men’s college basketball history. Eleven members of the squad were recognized for that achievement during a first-half timeout of the Notre Dame-Virginia Tech contest.
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 14.3 points and 4.8 assists per game this season and boasts a 2.44 assist-to-turnover ratio.
– 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.
IRISH OPEN ACC ERA WITH WIN OVER DUKE
– January 4 was a historic day for Notre Dame as it opened its Atlantic Coast Conference era with a 79-77 victory over No. 7 Duke. The win snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Blue Devils that began in 1988. It was Notre Dame’s first victory over Duke since a 70-66 overtime win on Feb. 15, 1987, at the Joyce Center.
– Duke grabbed a 10-point lead (60-50) with 11:35 left in the second half, but Notre Dame responded with a 10-0 run to tie the game with 8:01 remaining. In fact, the Irish extended it to a 20-4 run to take their largest lead (70-64) of the game with 4:18 left to play.
CONFERENCE CAROUSEL
– With Notre Dame’s move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, senior center Garrick Sherman now is playing in the third different conference during his collegiate career. Sherman played his first two seasons (2009-11) in the Big Ten Conference while at Michigan State and then transferred to Notre Dame following the 2010-11 campaign. After sitting out the 2011-12 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Sherman played last year in Notre Dame’s final season in the BIG EAST Conference.
IRISH ENTER THE ACC
– Following 18 seasons in the BIG EAST Conference, Notre Dame is in 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.
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 Dec. 27 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.
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.
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.
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 and will enroll in the fall of 2014.