Nov. 17, 2011
Delaware State vs. Notre Dame
Nov. 18, 2011 – 9:00 p.m. (ET)
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center (9,149)
Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: None
Live Video Broadcast: UND.com
Radio: Broadcast on UND.com
Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
Jordan Cornette (analyst)
Live Stats: GameTracker (UND.com)
Live Blog: UND.com/blog
FIGHTING IRISH PLAY HOST TO DELAWARE STATE ON FRIDAY
- Notre Dame (3-0) will play its fourth game in seven days when the Irish welcome in Delaware State (1-1) to Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center for a Friday night showdown. The Fighting Irish and Hornets will tip-off at 9:00 p.m. (ET).
- This will be the second meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Delaware State. The Fighting Irish topped the Hornets, 88-50, during the 2008-09 season at Purcell Pavilion.
- Delaware State is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). In the modern era of Notre Dame basketball, the Irish are 2-0 all-time against schools currently in the MEAC. The Fighting Irish topped Delaware State (88-50) and Savannah State (81-49) during the 2008-09 campaign.
- Irish head coach Mike Brey is 5-0 all-time versus Delaware State. He was 4-0 against the Hornets during his time as head coach at the University of Delaware.
- A free live video broadcast of Friday’s game will be available on UND.com. The Fighting Irish Digital Media radio crew of Jack Nolan (play-by-play) and Jordan Cornette (analyst) will call the action (radio affiliate listings on Pg. 5).
- Notre Dame currently has a 22-game home win streak.
- Notre Dame is off to a 3-0 start for the fourth straight season and for the eighth time under head coach Mike Brey (12 seasons). The Irish are in pursuit of their fourth straight 4-0 start.
PROGRESSIVE CBE CLASSIC
- Friday’s game against Delaware State is not part of the Progressive CBE Classic, but the Irish will continue the event on Monday in Kansas City, Mo.
- Notre Dame went 2-0 in regional-round action of the CBE Classic by capturing home wins over Detroit (59-53) and Sam Houston State (74-41).
- The championship rounds will be held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The Fighting Irish are slated to play Missouri in the semifinals on Monday. Notre Dame will face either California or Georgia in the championship/consolation game on Tuesday.
FRESHMAN ON FIRE
- Pat Connaughton’s 24 points against Sam Houston State on Wednesday were the most for a Notre Dame freshman since Torin Francis had 25 against Arizona in the Sweet 16 of the 2003 NCAA Tournament (March 27, 2003).
- Connaughton’s six made three-pointers (on 10 attempts) versus Sam Houston State were the most for an Irish freshman since Chris Thomas had six against Connecticut in the semifinals of the 2002 BIG EAST Tournament (March 8, 2002).
- Connaughton has scored in double-figures in the past two games.
BENCH PRODUCTION
- Notre Dame’s 33 bench points against Sam Houston State were the most points from the Irish subs since they deposited 48 points in the 2010-11 season opener against Georgia Southern, a 98-61 victory on Nov. 12, 2010.
- Pat Connaughton’s 24 points off the bench in the Sam Houston State game were the most bench points by an Irish player since Chris Quinn netted 25 against Quinnipiac during the 2003-04 campaign (Dec. 23, 2003).
GRANT HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING
- Sophomore guard Jerian Grant, who sat out all of last season, is the only Fighting Irish player to score in double-figures in all three games this season. He is the first first-year Notre Dame player to reach double-figures in points in his first three games since Luke Harangody began his career with five straight double-digit games during the 2006-07 season.
SHARING THE ROCK o Notre Dame had a season-high 21 assists (on 27 made baskets) in Wednesday’s win over Sam Houston State.
DRAINING FROM DEEP
- The Irish knocked down a season-high 10 three-pointers (on 19 attempts) in the Sam Houston State contest. Notre Dame made 10 or more treys in a game seven times last season.
CLAMPING DOWN
- The 41 points scored by Sam Houston State on Wednesday were the fewest for an Irish opponent since Monmouth scored 33 in a 76-33 Irish victory during the 2007-08 season (Nov. 16, 2007).
- The Fighting Irish held Sam Houston State to just 16 first-half points. Those were the fewest points by a Notre Dame opponent in a half since California scored five first-half points last season (Nov. 26, 2010).
- Notre Dame limited Detroit to just a 30.9% (21-68) shooting clip from the field in Monday’s 59-53 victory. The Titans shot just 26.3% (10-38) from the field in the second half.
- Notre Dame held Detroit without a field goal from the 14:04 mark of the second half until the 6:23 mark, a span of 7:41.
- Irish opponents are shooting just 36.4% (67-184) from the field, including 28.8% (17-59) from three-point range, this season.
BIG GAME FOR BROOKS
- Junior guard Joey Brooks posted career-high totals in points (13) and rebounds (9) in Monday’s victory over Detroit. Both figures were tied for the team lead in the game. It was the first time in his career that he posted a team-high point total.
ATKINS ON THE ATTACK
- Sophomore point guard Eric Atkins missed Wednesday’s game against Sam Houston State due to illness. That was the first missed game of his career. He had played in the first 36 contests of his Fighting Irish career.
- Atkins registered a team-high point total in the first two games this season. He scored a career-high 27 points in the season-opening victory over Mississippi Valley State and then deposited 13 points against Detroit.
- Against Mississippi Valley State, Atkins was 6-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-3 from three-point range, and 12-of-12 from the free-throw line. Both the three-point and free-throw totals were career-high figures.
- Atkins’ perfect day from the charity stripe against the Delta Devils marked the most makes without a miss for an Irish player in a game since Tim Abromaitis also went 12-of-12 against Seton Hall on Feb. 11, 2010.
COOLEY CRASHING THE BOARDS
- Junior forward Jack Cooley grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds against Mississippi Valley State in the season opener. He followed that up with an eight-rebound effort against Detroit. Cooley leads the Irish with an 8.0 rpg. average this season.
FIRST-TIME STARTERS
- Four Notre Dame players have made their first career start this season. Jack Cooley (Jr./F), Joey Brooks (Jr./G) and Jerian Grant (So./G) all made their first career starts in the season opener versus Mississippi Valley State. That trio has been among the starting five in all three games this season. Alex Dragicevich (So./G) made his first career start on Wednesday against Sam Houston State.
BUSY BEGINNING
- The Fighting Irish are in the middle of a stretch that has them playing eight games in an 18-day span. The stretch will end with a road test at Gonzaga on Nov. 30.
ABSENCE OF ABRO
- Forward Tim Abromaitis will miss the first four games of the regular season due to a misunderstanding in the technicality of an NCAA rule governing seasons of competition that dates back to the 2008-09 campaign.
- In his sophomore year (’08-’09), Abromaitis played in Notre Dame’s first two exhibition games against Briar Cliff (Oct. 31) and Stonehill (Nov. 9) and then was withheld from competition for the remainder of the season in order to preserve an extra year of eligibility. Under NCAA rules, and specifically Bylaw 14.2.3.1.3, freshman student-athletes are allowed to participate in preseason exhibition contests and still preserve the entire year of eligibility. The Bylaw, however, does not provide the same exception for returning student-athletes in their sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Therefore, Abromaitis technically used a season of eligibility when he participated in those two preseason exhibition contests during that year.
- Abromaitis’ fifth year of eligibility has been preserved for this season due to an NCAA waiver that took into consideration the Notre Dame men’s basketball coaching staff’s misunderstanding of the rule and on the condition that he be withheld from the first four regular-season games.
- Saturday’s season opener was the first game Abromaitis missed since he sat out the 2008-09 campaign. He had played in 69 straight contests.
ABROMAITIS EARNS PRESEASON ACCOLADES
- Notre Dame forward Tim Abromaitis has been selected to the preseason watch lists for both the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy. Both awards are presented annually to the national player of the year. Fifty student-athletes appear on both watch lists.
- Abromaitis was named to the six-man preseason All-BIG EAST First Team.
- The Fighting Irish forward also is one of 30 candidates up for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.
411 AND COUNTING
- Notre Dame has made at least one three-pointer in 411 straight contests dating back to the 1998-99 campaign. The Fighting Irish have made at least one three pointer during every game of the Mike Brey era. The last time an Irish team failed to hit a three-pointer in a game was in a 101-70 loss to Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center on Jan. 12, 1999. Notre Dame finished 0-7 from beyond the arc in that contest. In 2008-09, the Irish set a single-season three-point record with 319.
SOLID SCHEDULE
- Eight teams on Notre Dame’s 2011-12 schedule are ranked in the latest Associated Press top-25 poll. Six of the squads – #4 Connecticut, #5 Syracuse, #8 Louisville, #9 Pittsburgh, #20 Cincinnati and #21 Marquette – are BIG EAST foes, while the Fighting Irish will face #22 Gonzaga and #24 Missouri in non-conference action. The Irish will face fourth-ranked UConn twice during the regular season. Notre Dame could also face #23 California in the CBE Classic.
BACK TO THE BB&T
- Notre Dame will meet Maryland on Dec. 4 in the BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The Fighting Irish will be making their third appearance in the event, which is held annually in the nation’s capital. Each of the last two meetings between Notre Dame and Maryland has occurred at the BB&T Classic. Notre Dame topped Maryland, 79-67, in 2002 en route to the event title. The Irish bested the Terrapins, 81-74, in the 2006 BB&T Classic.
CROSSROADS CLASSIC
- Notre Dame will battle instate rival Indiana in the inaugural Crossroads Classic at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The game between the Irish and the Hoosiers is part of a doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 17. Purdue and Butler meet in the first game at 2:00 p.m. (ET) followed by Notre Dame and Indiana at 4:30 p.m. (ET).
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
- Notre Dame will have 17 television appearances during the 2011-12 season. The Irish will appear on ESPN’s family of networks 16 times in addition to being on CBS once.
DOUBLE-DUTY
- Freshman guard/forward Pat Connaughton also is a pitcher on the Fighting Irish baseball team. Connaughton is the 66th Notre Dame student-athlete to compete in both basketball and baseball and the first to do so since Tom Hansen during the 1973-74 academic year.
IRISH CAPTAINS
- Tim Abromaitis and Scott Martin will captain the Fighting Irish during the 2011-12 season. Abromaitis is the 19th player in program history to serve as a two-time team captain.
WHAT A RUN
- Notre Dame has posted a 99-42 (.702) record since the beginning of the 2007-08 season. The 99 wins are the most victories in program history over a five-year span.
- The past four seasons has produced the most regular-season BIG EAST victories (46) in school history. The Irish have gone 46-26 in BIG EAST regular-season play over the past four seasons.
- Last season’s 27 wins (27-7) were the most in the modern era of Fighting Irish basketball. Notre Dame’s highest win total ever was 33 (33-7) in 1908-09.
- The 14 regular-season BIG EAST victories in 2010-11 tied the program standard. The Fighting Irish went 14-4 in BIG EAST play in 2007-08.
- Notre Dame’s 15 BIG EAST wins (14 regular season, 1 tournament) last season were the most in program history (combined regular season and tournament).
ELDER STATESMAN
- Mike Brey is in his 12th season along the Irish sidelines. He is the third-longest tenured coach in the BIG EAST, behind only Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Jim Calhoun of Connecticut. Brey stands sixth all-time in career BIG EAST victories (both regular-season and tournament) with his 119-83 (.589) mark. He is one of eight coaches in BIG EAST history to record 100 conference wins.