Dec. 7, 1999
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-4) vs. VALPARAISO Crusaders (2-4)
Date: Wed., December 8, 1999
Place: Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN (11,418)
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
Television: None
Radio: Host Communications Inc. (Jack Lorri, Jack Nolan) originates the Notre Dame Radio Network (includes WNDV-1490 AM and WNDV-92.9 FM in South Bend, WEFM-95.9 FM in Michigan City and selected games on WMAQ-670 AM or WAUR-930 AM in Chicago).
TONIGHT’S GAME: The University of Notre Dame basketball team plays host to nearby Valparaiso University of the Mid-Continent Conference this evening at the Joyce Center.
Notre Dame brings a 3-4 record into the contest and is coming off four-straight losses to Arizona (76-60 in Preseason NIT semifinals), Maryland (72-67 in Preseason NIT third place game), Indiana (81-64 in overtime) and Vanderbilt (87-85 in overtime).
The Irish began the season by defeating Ohio State (59-57) and Siena (107-96) in the opening rounds of the NIT and topping St. Francis (Pa.) by a 73-60 count.
Of the seven games the Irish have played this season, four of them have been against ranked opponents at the time of the game.
Sophomore forward David Graves (Lexington, Ky.) had a career-game vs. the Commodores with 33 points and 12 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. Graves connected on five of six three-point field goals attempts and had four assists.
Sophomore forward Troy Murphy (Morristown, N.J.) posted his sixth double-double of the season against Vanderbilt with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Along with the Nov. 30 overtime loss to Indiana, the games marked the first time Notre Dame played back-to-back overtime games since Jan. 7 and 11, 1956 when the Irish dropped overtime games to DePaul and Louisville.
The Irish return to action on Saturday when they travel to Miami (Ohio) for a 12:00 p.m. EST game.
Notre Dame begins its fifth season of BIG EAST play at 7:30 p.m. EST on Wed., January 5, against defending national champion Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center. The BIG EAST home opener is at 7:30 p.m. EST on Wed., January 12, against Boston College.
Valparaiso brings a 2-4 record into the game and has lost four games in a row. Its last action came on Saturday with a 57-44 loss at Minnesota.
THE NOTRE DAME-VALPARAISO SERIES: Tonight’s game is the 39th meeting between Notre Dame and Valparaiso and the Irish lead the series by a 35-3 count. The two teams played for the first time in the 1920-21 season. Notre Dame has a 27-2 record against Valparaiso at home and a 20-1 record against the Crusaders in the Joyce Center. Notre Dame has a two-game winning streak against Valparaiso and the last time the two teams met was on Nov. 27, 1994, as the Irish posted a season-opening 77-69 win. The last time Notre Dame lost to Valparaiso was March 3, 1993, an 80-66 loss in the Joyce Center.
Series: ND leads, 35-3
Current Streak: ND, 2
At Notre Dame: 27-2
At Valparaiso: 8-1, ND
Last Meeting: 1994-95, at ND, ND 77-69
3-0 START: Notre Dame started the season with a 3-0 record for the first time since the 1988-89 season when the Irish won their first four games of the season (wins over St. Bonaventure, Kentucky, Indiana and Creighton). That team wound up with a 21-9 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Notre Dame received 18 points in the ESPN/USA Today college basketball poll, which was released on Nov. 21, to fall sixth in the also receiving votes category, and received one point in the poll released on Nov. 28 and Dec. 5.
The Irish were second in the Associated Press ranking of Nov. 22 in the also receiving votes category with 160 points, eight in back of Miami (168). Notre Dame received four points in the AP voting of Dec 6. The last time Notre Dame appeared in the national poll rankings was a No. 19 spot in the first Associated Press poll of the 1989 season.
PRESEASON NIT: Notre Dame’s trip to the Preseason NIT in ’99 marked the third appearance for the Irish in the event. In 1986, Notre Dame lost at home in the first round to Western Kentucky by an 80-63 score. In 1990, Notre Dame defeated Fordham (56-46) and Iowa (77-68) at home to advance to the finals in New York and lost to Arizona (91-61) in the semifinals and Duke (85-77) in the consolation game.
As an assistant at Kansas, Notre Dame head coach Matt Doherty participated in the event twice. The Jayhawks won both the 1993 and 1997 events.
HEAD COACH MATT DOHERTY: Notre Dame head basketball coach Matt Doherty is in his first year in charge of the Fighting Irish program and his first season as a collegiate head coach.
Doherty previously served as an assistant coach at Kansas for seven seasons from 1992-99 as the Jayhawks advanced to the NCAA tournament in each year, including a trip to the 1993 Final Four.
Doherty previously served as an assistant coach at Davidson for three seasons from 1989-92.
Doherty is a 1984 graduate of North Carolina and helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1982 NCAA title. Doherty became just the second player in Atlantic Coast Conference history, joining North Carolina’s Walter Davis, to accumulate 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 400 assists in a career.
THE OHIO STATE WIN: Notre Dame’s win over Ohio State (ranked fourth at the time in Associated Press poll and sixth in the ESPN/USA Today poll) in the first round of the Preseason NIT marked a number of milestones for the Irish,
* The first win over a ranked team since defeating No. 15/15 Syracuse on Jan. 21, 1998, by an 83-63 score
* The first win over a ranked team on the road since defeating No. 20/21 West Virginia on Jan. 15, 1998, by a 74-72 score
* The first win over a top-10 team since defeating No. 4/T2 UCLA on Feb. 5, 1994, by a 79-63 score
* The first win over a top-10 team on the road since defeating No. 4/3 Syracuse on Feb. 17, 1990, by a 66-65 score
* The first Notre Dame road win over a Big Ten team since defeating Northwestern on Dec. 5, 1979, by a 73-56 score
IRISH SIGN THREE
University of Notre Dame basketball coach Matt Doherty announced on Nov. 12 that three players have signed national letters of intent and plan on enrolling at Notre Dame in the fall and playing for Doherty’s squad. The three are: Torrian Jones, a 6-4, 185-pound guard from Fairless Hills, Pa., and Pennsbury High School, Tom Timmermans, a 6-11, 235-pound center from Driehuis, Netherlands and the Blue Ridge School in Dyke, Va., and Chris Markwood, a 6-5, 185-pound guard from South Portland, Maine and South Portland High School.
Jones averaged 17 points per game last year at Pennsbury for head coach Frank Sciolla as the team won 26 games – the most in school history. The team played in the District One championship game and lost in the second round of the state tournament. Jones earned first team all-conference and all-area honors and averaged 22 points per game in seven post season contests. In his junior year, Jones shot 50.2% from the field and 43.8% from three-point field goal distance.
Markwood earned first-team all-state honors last season at South Portland, averaging 21.5 points, 6.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and four assists for head coach Tony DiBiase. Markwood earned first team all-conference honors last year and was named conference MVP. His AAU team in Maine has been the state champions for the past three years.
Timmermans averaged 12.5 points per game last year at Blue Ridge for head coach Bill Ramsey along with 10 rebounds. The team finished 19-6 on the season – third in the state among independent schools.
IRISH ON THE RADIO
Host/USA originates the Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network for the 12th consecutive year in 1999-2000.
Jack Lorri will handle the play-by-play of all Notre Dame basketball games and this season marks his 31st year announcing Irish games. Lorri spent his first 14 years with Notre Dame as sports director of WTRC-AM in Elkhart, Ind., and then five years doing games on WGN-AM in Chicago before teaming up with Host/USA. He served as sports director for WSJV-TV in Elkhart for 13 years beginning in 1967 and did play-by-play for Kentucky football and basketball on WLAP in Lexington in 1961-63. Lorri also served as sports director of the Tribune Radio Network in Chicago.
Jack Nolan handles the color commentary on the network. He has been a sports anchor at WNDU-TV, the NBC affiliate in South Bend, for more than a decade. He has done play-by-play of Irish basketball on both television and radio as well as on live telecasts of Notre Dame football. He is also the host of WNDU’s highly successful Saturday and Sunday morning news broadcasts.
Stations scheduled to be on the Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network this season are: WMAQ 670 AM in Chicago, WAUR 930 AM in Chicago, WNDV 1490 AM and 92.9 FM in South Bend, WEFM 95.9 FM in Michigan City, Ind., WLUV 96.7 FM and 1520 AM in Rockford, Ill., KHEP 1280 AM in Phoenix, Ariz., KATD 990 AM in San Francisco, Calif., KSAR 92.7 FM in Conway, Ark., and KIND 1010 AM in Independence, Kan.
All radio broadcasts of Notre Dame basketball games can also be heard through the World Wide Web at www.und.com.
CHICAGO RADIO
WMAQ-AM radio will carry Notre Dame basketball games in the Chicago market again this season as part of the Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network originated by Host/USA. In addition, Chicago’s WAUR-AM will also broadcast selected Irish games.
WMAQ-AM (670), with its 50,000-watt clear channel signal, covers a larger geographic area than any other radio station in Chicago. The station’s other sports properties include the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Blackhawks and the station is also affiliated with CNN Radio.
Notre Dame basketball games on WMAQ this season include: Dec. 4 against Vanderbilt, Dec. 11 at Miami (Ohio), Dec. 18 vs. VMI, Jan. 16 at Syracuse, Jan. 22 vs. Pittsburgh, Jan. 25 vs. Miami (Fla.), Jan. 29 vs. St. John’s, Feb. 6 at Pittsburgh, Feb. 8 at Villanova, Feb. 12 vs. Connecticut, Feb. 19 at Seton Hall, Feb. 26 at Miami (Fla.) and March 4 at Georgetown.
Six more Irish games will be carried in the Chicago area on WAUR-AM (930). They include: Nov. 16 at Ohio State, Nov. 30 at Indiana, Dec. 8 vs. Valparaiso, Jan. 5 at Connecticut, Feb. 23 vs. Providence and March 1 vs. Syracuse.
HITTING THE CENTURY MARK: Notre Dame’s win over Siena on Nov. 18 in the second round of the Preseason NIT marked the first time Notre Dame scored over 100 points in a game since a 101-98 win at Syracuse on Feb. 15, 1992. The 107 points scored by the Irish were the most since they also scored 107 vs. Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 27, 1990. The 48-point differential for Notre Dame from Ohio State (59 points) to Siena was the most in back-to-back games since a 50-point differential in the ’74 NCAA tournament with a 77-68 loss to Michigan and a 118-88 win over Vanderbilt in a regional consolation game.
GRAVES HAS CAREER GAME: Graves enjoyed an outstanding came against Vanderbilt on Saturday with career highs for points (33), rebounds (12), field goals made (11), three-point field goals (five) and minutes played (44). The game was the first double-double of Graves’ collegiate career.
Graves scored the winning basket against Ohio State and started the season with one of the top games of his Irish career as he scored 18 points (now tied for career fourth-best) on a seven of 12 effort from the field along with eight rebounds, to tie a career high. Graves added 16 points in the win over Siena on Nov. 18 and had 12 against St. Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 21.
Graves has started 35 of the 37 collegiate games he has played in and has scored in double figures in 26 of those contests. He has scored in double figures in all but two games this season.
Graves scored 370 points as a freshman last year – the fourth-highest in school history behind Murphy (519 last year), Adrian Dantley (511 in 1973-74) and David Rivers (474 in 1984-85).
MURPHY GETS SIXTH DOUBLE DOUBLE: Murphy had his sixth double double of the season in seven games against Vanderbilt on Saturday with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Against Indiana on Nov. 30, he had a game-high 22 points and 16 rebounds. In the third place game of the NIT against Maryland on Nov. 26 he had 25 points and 11 rebounds and in the NIT semifinals against Arizona, he scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
The sophomore forward has led the Irish in scoring in six games this season and has been the leading rebounder or tied on six occasions. He scored 35 points against St. Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 20 along with 13 rebounds. The 35 points was a career-high topping his previous mark of 32 set against West Virginia last year.
Murphy has now played in 34 games as a collegiate performer and has scored in double figures in all but one of them. He has posted double-doubles in 18 games and has scored 20 or more points in 17 games and 30 or more points in five games.
MURPHY NAMED BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Murphy was named the BIG EAST player of the week for his games in the first two rounds of the Preseason NIT and the Irish win over St. Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 22. The announcement was the first weekly BIG EAST award of the season.
Murphy was named the BIG EAST rookie of the year in 1999 and won the BIG EAST rookie of the week award eight times, the second-highest in league history. The award marked the first time Murphy has won player of the week honors.
PRESEASON BIG EAST HONORS FOR MURPHY: Murphy was picked first team preseason all-BIG EAST for the 1999-2000 season by the league coaches. The honor was announced at BIG EAST Conference Media Day on Wed., October 25, 1999, and was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
Also named to the first team was: Khalid El-Amin of Connecticut, Johnny Hemsley of Miami, Erick Barkley of St. John’s and Etan Thomas of Syracuse.
The second team was Kevin Freeman of Connecticut, Isaac Hawkins of Pittsburgh, Bootsy Thornton of St. John’s, Jason Hart of Syracuse and Marcus Goree of West Virginia.
The preseason player of the year was El-Amin and the preseason rookie of the year was Ajou Deng of Connecticut.
MORE PRESEASON HONORS FOR MURPHY: In addition to the BIG EAST honors, Murphy garnered a number of preseason accolades heading into the 1999-2000 campaign, including:
* Second Team All-America, Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
* Second Team All-America, Basketball News
* Honorable Mention All-America, Athlon
* Ranked second in country among centers, Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
* Ranked fourth in country among power forwards, Lindy’s
* Ranked 11th in country among power forwards, The Sporting News
* First Team All-BIG EAST, Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
* First Team All-BIG EAST, Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
* First Team All-BIG EAST, The Sporting News
* First Team All-BIG EAST, Lindy’s
* Best NBA Prospect in BIG EAST, Lindy’s
* Best Rebounder in BIG EAST, The Sporting News
* All-Windex Team (The kids can really clean the glass), Dick Vitale’s College Basketball
CARROLL IN DOUBLE FIGURES: Notre Dame freshman guard Matt Carroll (Horsham, Pa.) made the first start of his Irish career on Saturday against Vanderbilt and responded with a career-high 18 points.
Carroll played a total of 28 minutes vs. the Commodores and was eight for 15 from the field and two for four from three-point field goal range.
Carroll had come off the bench in the first six games of the season and now has scored in double figures in three games — 16 points vs. Siena and 11 vs. Maryland in addition to the Vanderbilt game.
Carroll is 10 for 26 from three-point field goal range this season and hit on three three-point field goals vs. Maryland.
He spent the summer as a member of the USA Basketball Junior National Team that played in the FIBA World Championships, which were held in Portugal in August. The United States won the silver medal in the event.
Carroll played in seven of the eight games the United States played and scored a combined 16 points to go along with three rebounds and four steals. He scored eight points in the United States’ opening round win over China.
Carroll is the only player in the history of Pennsylvania high school basketball to win the Associated Press player of the year twice.
MACURA NETS CAREER HIGH VS. HOOSIERS: Freshman forward Jere Macura (Split, Croatia) registered a career-high 13 points, including two three-point field goals, vs. Indiana (Nov. 30). Macura played a career-high 33 minutes off the bench and also added eight rebounds.
Macura scored nine points coming off the bench in 18 minutes of play against Maryland (Nov. 26). Macura scored all his points on three-point field goals as he was three for four from that range for the game.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: Ever since Matt Doherty was named the head basketball coach at Notre Dame, he has stressed the tradition of winning that the program has. He has worked hard to include former players in the program:
* Bruce Flowers, a member of the ’78 Irish Final Four team, served as a counselor at the Irish summer basketball camp, while Ken Barlow, who scored 1,342 career points for the Irish from 1982-86, was a guest speaker
* Collis Jones, who scored 1,367 career points for the Irish from 1968-71, has visited with the Irish coaching staff and practice sessions during his trips to campus as a member of the University’s Advisory Council for the College of Business Administration.
* Austin Carr, the all-time leading scorer in the history of Irish basketball with 2,560 points, was a special guest at Friday Night Live,” a series of events that led to the first Irish practice at midnight on Oct. 16. Carr was joined at the event by ESPN and ABC announcer Dick Vitale and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.
* Dwight Clay, who hit the game-winning shot against UCLA on Jan. 19, 1974, for a 71-70 victory over the Bruins to end their record 88-game winning streak, spoke to the Irish before their practice on Nov. 15 – the day before they beat Ohio State in the first round of the Preseason NIT.
IRISH ON ESPN: Notre Dame will make four appearances on ESPN this season and one on espn2. The Irish game against Ohio State in the first round of the preseason National Invitation Tournament was televised on espn2 and the semifinal game against Arizona was on ESPN.
Notre Dame games scheduled for ESPN are: Sat., February 19, at Seton Hall, 9:00 p.m. EST, Sat., February 26, at Miami (Fla.), 7:00 p.m. EST, Wed., March 1, vs. Syracuse, 9:00 p.m. EST.
TICKETS ON SALE
Tickets are currently on sale for the 1999-2000 basketball season.
Pro-rated season tickets for all remaining home games are available in the bleacher seats.
A special four-game Saturday package is available and includes the Vanderbilt (Dec. 4), Pittsburgh (Jan. 22), St. John’s (Jan. 29) and Connecticut (Feb. 12) games. That package is priced at $30 (plus $15 for handling per order).
Single game tickets are now on sale at $15 for the lower arena (when available) and $8 for bleachers.