Nov. 18, 2014
Game 3
Coppin State (0-2)
vs.
Notre Dame (2-0)
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014
7 p.m. (ET)
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center (9,149)
Notre Dame, Ind.
TV/INTERNET
ESPN3
Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play)
Sean Harrington (analyst)
RADIO
Broadcast on WatchND (free)
Sirius 84/XM 84
Check affiliates on Pg. 4 of notes packet
Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
Jordan Cornette (analyst)
LIVE STATS
NOTRE DAME TO CLASH WITH COPPIN STATE FOR THE FIRST TIME
– Notre Dame is set to meet Coppin State for the first time when the Irish and Eagles clash at 7 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
– The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play) and Sean Harrington (analyst) calling the action.
– A free audio broadcast will be available on WatchND.tv. Jack Nolan will handle play-by-play duties, while Jordan Cornette will serve as the analyst. The contest also is available on Sirius 84 and XM 84.
– The Fighting Irish opened the season with wins over Binghamton (82-39) and Navy (92-53). Coppin State suffered road setbacks to Oregon (107-65) and Illinois (114-56).
– Notre Dame is off to a 2-0 start for the eighth straight season and the 14th time in 15 campaigns under head coach Mike Brey. The Fighting Irish are looking to get to 3-0 for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
BUSY BEGINNING FOR THE FIGHTING IRISH
– Wednesday’s showdown with Coppin State will be Notre Dame’s third game in a six-day span.
– Notre Dame is slated to play 11 games in the first 30 days of the season. That stretch concludes with a Dec. 13 contest at Purcell Pavilion against Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both schools.
NOVEMBERS TO REMEMBER
– Notre Dame is 52-1 at home in the month of November under head coach Mike Brey.
– The only loss during that stretch was last season’s 83-70 setback to Indiana State.
A MATCHUP WITH THE MEAC
– The Fighting Irish are 3-0 all-time against teams currently in the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Notre Dame is 2-0 against Delaware State and 1-0 versus Savannah State. Wednesday will be Notre Dame’s first meeting with a school from the MEAC since a 93-69 win over Delaware State on Nov. 18, 2011.
IRISH GET OFFENSIVE OUT OF THE GATE
– Notre Dame’s 174 points are the most for the Irish through the first two games of a season since they tallied 181 in 2009-10. That year, Notre Dame opened with wins over North Florida (86-65) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (95-72).
AUGUSTE ON THE ATTACK
– Junior forward Zach Auguste has posted a career-high point total in each of the first two games this season. He tallied 19 points in the season opener versus Binghamton and followed that up with a 20-point effort against Navy.
– Auguste is 14-of-22 (.636) from the field and 11-of-14 (.786) from the free throw line. Entering this season, he was a career 53.6% (44-82) shooter from the charity stripe.
– Auguste has scored in double-figures in three straight games dating back to last season. He has led the Irish in scoring both games this season.
A DYNAMIC DUO
– Seniors Pat Connaughton and Jerian Grant have spent a lot of time on the court together since they first stepped onto the floor during the 2011-12 campaign.
– The duo has combined for 186 games played (168 of them starts), 2,162 points, 798 rebounds, 656 assists and 184 steals.
– Even more impressive is the fact they have accounted for 6,179 minutes played on the court (33.2 minutes per game).
A BIG PART OF THE IRISH OFFENSE
– Just two games into the season, Jerian Grant already has been a big part of the Notre Dame offensive, accounting for 67 of the 174 points (38.5 percent) scored by the Irish.
– Against Binghamton, Grant had a hand in 25 of Notre Dame’s 82 points, scoring 14 points and dishing off five assists that resulted in 11 Irish points.
– In the win over Navy, Grant factored into 42 of the 92 points the Irish put on the scoreboard. In registering his fifth career double-double, he scored 17 points and dished off 10 assists that produced in 25 points.
GRANT NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD TOP 50 WATCH LIST
– Jerian Grant has been named to the 2014-15 John R. Wooden Award Top 50 Watch List. It marks the second consecutive season that he has appeared on this list.
– Grant is one of eight nominees from the Atlantic Coast Conference — the most of any league.
– The seven other nominees from ACC institutions included Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Olivier Hanlan (Boston College), Montrezl Harrell (Louisville), Tyus Jones (Duke), Jahlil Okafor (Duke), Marcus Paige (North Carolina) and Terry Rozier (Louisville).
NOTABLES FROM NAVY
– Notre Dame led Navy 36-28 at halftime and the Irish outscored the Midshipmen 56-25 in the second half. The Fighting Irish shot 62.5% percent (20-32) from the floor in the second half, while limiting Navy to 23.3% (7-30).
– Junior forward Zach Auguste netted a career-high 20 points, while sophomore forward V.J. Beachem matched a career-high total with 10 points.
– Jerian Grant notched the fifth double-double of his career with 17 points and 10 assists. The assist total tied a career-high mark that he’s achieved four other times and most recently last season at Iowa.
– The Fighting Irish turned 20 Navy turnovers into 25 points. Notre Dame had 11 steals in the contest.
CONNAUGHTON JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB
– With his 17-point performance against Binghamton in the season opener, Pat Connaughton eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career to become the 56th member of Notre Dame’s 1,000-point club. He has netted 1,020 points in 103 career games (9.9 ppg.)
– Connaughton became the second current Fighting Irish player with at least 1,000 career points. Senior Jerian Grant has tallied 1,142 points in an Irish uniform.
– Connaughton currently has a team-best five-game double-figure scoring streak. He has scored in double-figures 50 times during his career.
BREY NOTCHES 400TH CAREER WIN
– Notre Dame’s season opener against Binghamton signaled the beginning of head coach Mike Brey’s 20th season as a head coach. The 82-39 win over the Bearcats marked his 400th career win as a college head coach. He has registered a 401-211 (.655) record in 19-plus seasons at Delaware and Notre Dame.
– Brey earned his 300th win at Notre Dame last season against Georgia Tech (Feb. 26, 2014). He has compiled a 302-159 (.655) record in his 14-plus seasons in South Bend. He is one of 17 active head coaches to have 300 or more Division I victories at their current institution.
– Only two other Notre Dame head coaches have reached the 300-win milestone. Digger Phelps led the Fighting Irish to a 393-197 record from 1971-91. George Keogan notched a 327-97 mark from 1923-43.
BINGHAMTON BITES
– The 39 points scored by Binghamton marked the third time that a Notre Dame team under Mike Brey has held an opponent to under 40 points and the first time since 2007. The two other occurrences were in a 54-38 victory over Charleston Southern on Nov. 26, 2004 at Purcell Pavilion and against Monmouth (76-33) on Nov. 16, 2007, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
– The 43-point margin of victory was the most lopsided Irish win since Notre Dame defeated Northern Illinois by 46 points (108-62), on Dec. 8, 2007 at Purcell Pavilion. It also was the 12th time under Brey that the Irish registered a 40-plus point victory.
– Notre Dame turned the ball over just seven times in the game, but the Bearcats did not have a steal. That’s the only time in the Brey era (461 games) that an Irish opponent did not have a steal in a game.
IRONMAN
– Pat Connaughton has never missed a game during his Fighting Irish career. He has played in all 103 contests, including 87 starts. Connaughton has started 84 consecutive games.
– Connaughton never left the court in eight games in 2013-14 (six times in ACC play).
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE FOR PAT
– Senior guard Pat Connaughton registered a double-double in Friday night’s game against Binghamton as he finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
– It marked the eighth double-double of his career and the 11th time he has pulled down 10-plus rebounds in a game.
– Connaughton has been Notre Dame’s leading rebounder in both games this season.
CAPTAIN CONNAUGHTON
– Senior guard/forward Pat Connaughton has been named captain for the 2014-15 season. Connaughton served as one of four captains for the Irish a year ago and becomes the 22nd different Notre Dame men’s basketball player to serve as a captain in multiple seasons.
– Since the 1985-86 campaign, only four other players have served as lone captains for their Irish teams– Ken Barlow (1985-86), Tim Singleton (1990-91), Ryan Hoover (1995-96) and Rob Kurz (2007-08).
ACC HONORS
– The Fighting Irish were picked to finish seventh in the ACC for the 2014-15 season, according to a vote of media in attendance at the league’s annual “Operation Basketball.” Notre Dame senior guard Jerian Grant was selected to the Preseason All-ACC Team for the second consecutive year.
A BUSY INGELSBY HOUSEHOLD
– Notre Dame assistant coach Martin Ingelsby and his wife Colleen welcomed the third addition to their family on Monday, Nov. 10 with the arrival of a son, Jack Fitzgerald Ingelsby. He joins four-year-old twins Will and Kate.
110 YEARS OF FIGHTING IRISH BASKETBALL
– The 2014-15 campaign marks the 110th season of basketball at the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame teams have posted an all-time record of 1765-966 for a .646 winning percentage.
TOM HAWKINS TO BE INDUCTED INTO NOTRE DAME RING OF HONOR
– Nearly 56 years have passed since Tom Hawkins played his final collegiate men’s basketball game for the University of Notre Dame, yet the indelible mark he left on the program remains intact today. While dozens of players have donned an Irish uniform since Hawkins last took the court, none have been able to duplicate his rebounding as he remains the career leader in that category.
– Hawkins, whose 1,318 career rebounds rank currently as the oldest record in the 109-year annals of Fighting Irish men’s basketball, will become the seventh inductee into the Notre Dame Basketball Ring of Honor on Jan. 17, 2015, at halftime of the Notre Dame-Miami men’s basketball game. He will follow six former players–Austin Carr (2011), Adrian Dantley (2012), Skylar Diggins (2013), Luke Harangody (2010) and Ruth Riley (2010)–and former men’s head coach Richard “Digger” Phelps (2014) into the school’s Ring of Honor.
FIGHTING IRISH IN ITALY
– In early August, the Fighting Irish squad traveled to Italy for a 10-day, four-game foreign tour. Notre Dame posted a 4-0 record. The Irish visited Rome, Perugia, Pesaro, Venice and Como during the trip.
– It was the program’s first foreign tour since 2008 when the Irish ventured to Ireland for 13 days.
CONNAUGHTON DRAFTED BY ORIOLES
– The Baltimore Orioles selected Irish swingman Pat Connaughton in the fourth round of June’s Major League Baseball Draft. He was the 121st pick overall.
– Connaughton spent part of June and July pitching for the Aberdeen IronBirds, the Class A Orioles’ affiliate.
– Connaughton finished his Fighting Irish baseball career last spring. He posted a 3.03 ERA and had an 11-11 record on the mound during his three seasons. He fanned 105 batters in 154.2 innings pitched.
FIGHTING IRISH TO HOST SPARTANS IN ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE
– Notre Dame will play host to Michigan State Dec. 3 in the 16th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
– The Notre Dame-Michigan State contest will mark the 95th meeting between the two Midwest schools, but the first since March 18, 1979, when the Spartans downed the Irish 80-68 in the Mideast Regional final in Indianapolis, Ind., en route to the national championship. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 59-35. Michigan State last played at Notre Dame on Feb. 5, 1975, when the Spartans defeated the Irish 76-73.
– Notre Dame fell at Iowa, 98-93, last season in its inaugural appearance in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
ANOTHER CROSSROADS CLASSIC CLASH
– Notre Dame will battle Big Ten rival Purdue in the fourth annual Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The game between the Irish and the Boilermakers will be the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 20. Butler and Indiana will square off in the first contest.
– The Fighting Irish are 2-1 in their three previous Crossroads Classic showdowns. Notre Dame topped Indiana, 79-72, last season and the Irish downed Purdue, 81-68, in 2012. Notre Dame fell to Indiana, 69-58, in the inaugural event in 2011.
NOTRE DAME FIRST AGAIN IN GRADUATION RATE SUCCESS
– The University of Notre Dame once again claims the 2014 national championship for graduating student-athletes in all sports–in the process posting the top NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figure (99) for its student-athletes for the eighth straight year.
– The GSR number for all Notre Dame student-athletes rates the Irish first among the football-playing institutions in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). The 2014 NCAA figures are based on entering classes from 2004 through 2007.
– Twenty-one of Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s athletic programs posted GSR numbers that rank them best in the nation within their sports (including 20 perfect 100 scores)– and 11 produced federal graduation rates that led all NCAA FBS institutions (including eight perfect 100 scores). Men’s basketball at 100 tied for first with 14 other schools.
– Five Irish women’s programs had perfect 100 federal rates ranking them first within their sports among the NCAA FBS subset. Six Irish men’s programs had federal rates ranking them first within their sports (three with perfect 100 scores) among the NCAA FBS subset. Men’s basketball at 85 ranked tied for first with Penn State.