December 16, 1998

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-5)
vs.
EASTERN KENTUCKY Colonels (1-6)

Game No. 10

  • Date: Saturday, December 19, 1998
  • Place: Joyce Center (11,418), Notre Dame, IN
  • Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
  • Television: None
  • Live Radio: Host Communications Inc. (Jack Lorri, Jack Nolan) originates the Notre Dame Radio Network (includes WNDV-1490 AM and 92.9 FM in South Bend, WEFM-95.9 FM in Michigan City and WGON-860 in Marion and selected games on WMAQ-670 AM in Chicago)

TODAY’S GAME: The University of Notre Dame basketball team returns from a 11-day break for final examinations to play Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Notre Dame is coming off an 83-80 victory at Providence College on December 8, which was the BIG EAST Conference opener for the Irish. Notre Dame freshman forward Troy Murphy (Morristown, N.J.) scored a game and career-high 30 points, which tied a BIG EAST record for most points by an individual in a conference debut, and had 11 rebounds.

Notre Dame freshmen scored 60 points in the win as forward David Graves (Lexington, Kent.) had 17 points while forward Harold Swanagan (Hopkinsville, Kent.) had 13 points. Senior guard Antoni Wyche (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) scored 12 points.

After today’s game, the Irish return to action on Monday, when they play host to Stetson at 7:30 p.m. EST. The first BIG EAST home game of the season for Notre Dame is on Tuesday, December 29, against Syracuse at 7:30 p.m.

Eastern Kentucky enters today’s game with a 1-6 record and its last action was a 74-61 loss to IUPUI last Saturday.

THE NOTRE DAME-EASTERN KENTUCKY SERIES: Today’s game against Eastern Kentucky marks the second meeting between the two schools. The only other meeting came in the first round of the 1953 NCAA tournament, a 72-57 win at the Fort Wayne Coliseum. The contest marked the first-ever NCAA tournament appearance by the Irish.

FRESHMEN SCORING: Murphy and Graves are the two-leading scorers for the Irish this season at 18.7 and 15.4 points per game, respectively. Of the 694 points scored this season by the Irish, 45.5% of them (307) have been scored by that duo. When you add freshman forward Harold Swanagan (Hopkinsville, Kent.) to the mix, 363 (53.8%) of the Irish points this year have been scored by freshmen. In all, Notre Dame players have recorded double figure scoring 32 times this season and 17 have been from freshmen.

MURPHY AND DOUBLE FIGURES: Murphy has started his collegiate career by scoring in double figures in all nine contests the Irish have played this year, including three double-double performances 21 points and 17 rebounds vs. Alaska-Anchorage, 23 points and 16 rebounds vs. Indiana and 30 points and 11 rebounds vs. Providence.

The last time a Notre Dame player scored in double figures in his first nine college games was LaPhonso Ellis in 1988-89. Ellis wound up averaging 13.5 points per game as a frosh. Ellis is the ninth-leading scorer in school history with 1,505 career points.

Since freshmen became eligible to play in 1970-71, no Irish freshman has ever scored in double figures in his first 10 career games.

MURPHY SETS BIG EAST RECORD: Murphy’s 30 points against Providence tied a BIG EAST record for most points by an individual in their first conference game. Allen Iverson of Georgetown also had 30 points in his first game against Providence on December 7, 1994.

MURPHY HONORED BY BIG EAST TWICE: Murphy has been named the BIG EAST Conference rookie of the week twice this season: once on November 16 for his performance in Notre Dame’s opening two games and again on December 14 for his performance in the Providence game. The awards mark the first time in Notre Dame’s four-year history as a BIG EAST member that an Irish player had been named the rookie of the week.

Murphy led or tied Notre Dame in scoring in each of its opening two games with 19 points against Miami of Ohio and 16 points against Yale and added six rebounds in each game.

MURPHY RECOGNIZED BY BASKETBALL NEWS, BIG EAST BRIEFS: Murphy was selected as the newcomer of the year in the BIG EAST Conference by Basketball News in the publication’s annual preseason yearbook. Murphy was also named the BIG EAST preseason newcomer of the year by BIG EAST Briefs newsletter. Murphy was named his team’s most valuable player last spring at the prestigious Capital Classic in Washington, D.C., where he had 18 points and 21 rebounds in the postseason game.

GRAVES NETS FRESHMAN HIGH: Graves scored a career-high 29 points against Southern Utah in the Great Alaska Shootout. Before Murphy had 30 points against Providence, Graves’ 29 points was the most by a Notre Dame freshman since Adrian Dantley had 41 points against West Virginia in 1973-74.

TWO FRESHMEN STARTERS: Notre Dame had two freshmen start the opening game against Miami of Ohio with Murphy and Graves. It marked the first time since the 1982-83 opener that the Irish have two freshmen starting a season-opening game. In that season, Notre Dame started Tim Kempton and Ken Barlow as the Irish beat Stonehill by a 74-60 count. Kempton scored nine points in the contest while Barlow had 14.

SWANAGAN GETS CAREER HIGHS: Swanagan has seen his playing time increase since the beginning of the Great Alaska Shootout. In the first three games of the season prior to the tournament, he was playing just 6.7 minutes per game. Since the tournament began, Swanagan is averaging 20.8 minutes per game. Swanagan scored a career high 17 points against Duke in the first round of the event and then had a career high 10 rebounds vs. Southern Utah. Against Indiana, Swanagan had another solid performance with 11 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes of action. In the win over Providence, Swanagan scored 13 points.

DILLON RECORDS ASSIST HIGH: Notre Dame junior guard Jimmy Dillon (Philadelphia, Penn.) had a career-high seven assists in Notre Dame’s win over Providence and also came off the bench to play a career-high 35 minutes. Previously, the most minutes Dillon had played in one game was 21 and his previous assist high was six, which he had accomplished twice.Dillon is averaging 16.4 minutes of playing time this season, while he entered the season with a career average of 9.5 minutes per game.

RAINEY GETS VALUABLE TIME: Notre Dame senior forward Paul Rainey (Hattieville, Ark.) played a career-high 21 minutes in the win over Providence. Rainey picked up four assists and two rebounds in the win. Rainey, who is in his first year as a scholarship member of the team after playing as a walk-on for three seasons, had just 50 minutes of playing time over three seasons prior to the Providence game.

BIG EAST LEADERS: Here is where Irish players and the Notre Dame team stand in the latest BIG EAST statistics through Dec. 15.

    Name            Category      Overall GamesTroy Murphy     Scoring       3rd at 18.7 (first among rookies)                Rebounding    3rd at 8.8                FG Pct.       4th at 58.5                Blocks        t12th at 1.00                Def. Reb.     1st of 6.11
Graves Scoring t11th at 15.4 (tied for third among rookies) FT Pct. 4th at 84.2
Hickey Rebouding 15th at 6.3
Inglesby Assists 5th at 4.56 Ast./TO Ratio t8th at 1.71Wyche 3-Pters./Game t7th at 1.78

The Notre Dame team is fifth in scoring offense (75.0 ppg), fifth in field goal percentage (47.0%), first in assists per game (17.56) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.01).

THE JOYCE CENTER: The Joyce Center is in its 31st season of use by the Notre Dame basketball team and the Irish have an overall record of 361-106 (.773) in the building. Of the 467 games played at the Joyce Center, 202 have been sellouts.

IRISH INK TWO: Matt Carroll, a 6-5 1/2 guard from Horsham, Penn., and Hatboro-Horsham High School, and Mike Monserez, a 6-5 guard from Moeller High School and Cincinnati, Ohio, signed National Letters of Intent on November 11, 1998, to enroll at the University of Notre Dame next fall and play for head coach John MacLeod’s basketball team.

Carroll averaged 23.6 points per game as a junior in high school and added 8.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. He is ranked No. 30 in the country among high school seniors by All-Star Sports and its publisher Bob Gibbons and No. 67 by Future Stars.

Carroll was named all-area and all-league for his first three years in high school and was named the 1988 state player of the year in Pennsylvania.

In the summer of 1998, Carroll was a member of the USA Basketball men’s junior world championship qualifying team, which won the gold medal at the COPABA junior world championship qualifying tournament. Carroll averaged 6.5 points per game in the tournament and 2.0 rebounds.

Monserez led Moeller to an 18-4 record in his junior year and the team finished ninth in the Associated Press Ohio Division I poll after losing in the sectional finals. Monserez led the team with 12 points per game as a total of five Moeller players averaged in double figures. Monserez also averaged 7.5 assists per game, shot 38.5 percent from the three-point distance and 78 percent from the foul line.

He was named first team all-Southwestern Ohio by the AP, first team all-city by the Cincinnati Enquirer and co-player of the year in the Greater Catholic League of Cincinnati and Dayton.

IRISH ON TELEVISION: Notre Dame will once again make a number of appearances on national and local television this season. Notre Dame will appear on ESPN twice (November 26 vs. Duke in Great Alaska Shootout and February 10 vs. Pittsburgh) and espn2 once (January 5 vs. Pittsburgh). Notre Dame games will also be televised on WNDU-TV in South Bend (remaining games: Jan. 16 vs. Villanova, Jan. 23 vs. Rutgers, Jan. 30 vs. Providence, Feb. 6 at Seton Hall and Feb. 14 at West Virginia), WBND-TV in South Bend (Jan. 9 at Miami and Feb. 28 vs. Boston College) and TCI of Michiana (Dec. 29 vs. Syracuse, Jan. 2 vs. Villanova, Jan. 12 at Connecticut, Jan. 19 vs. Seton Hall, Feb. 17 at Syracuse, Feb. 21 vs. West Virginia and Feb. 24 at St. John’s) as part of the ESPN Regional television package.

IRISH RADIO NETWORK: Host Communications, Inc., originates the Notre Dame basketball radio network for the 11th year in 1998-99. Jack Lorri will once again handle play-by-play duties and this season will mark his 30th year of announcing Irish games. Jack Nolan handles the color commentary.

WMAQ-AM radio will carry Notre Dame basketball games in the Chicago market for the next two seasons as part of the network originated by Universal Sports America, an affiliate of Host Communications, Inc.

Remaining Notre Dame basketball games on WMAQ this season include: Sun., Dec. 27, vs. St. Francis (N.Y.); Tue., Dec. 29, vs. Syracuse; Sat., Jan. 2, vs. Villanova; Sat., Jan. 16, at Villanova; Tues., Jan. 19, vs. Seton Hall; Sat., Jan. 23, vs. Rutgers; Sat., Jan. 30, vs. Providence; Sat., Feb. 6, at Seton Hall; Sun., Feb. 14, vs. West Virginia; Sun., Feb. 28, vs. Boston College; Wed.-Sat., March 3-6, BIG EAST Tournament, TBA.

WMAQ-AM (670), with its 50,000-watt clear channel signal, covers a larger geographic area than any other radio station in Chicago. WMAQ’s other sports properties include the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Blackhawks and WMAQ is also affiliated with CNN Radio.

Others stations on the network include: WNDU 1490 AM and 92.9 FM in South Bend and WLUV 96.7 FM and 1520 AM in Rockford, Ill.

LAST NOTRE DAME GAME

Game No. 9

  • Notre Dame 83, Providence 80
  • December 8, 1998
  • Providence Civic Center
  • Providence, RI

Notre Dame (83)

Player    min  fg  fga  ft fta reb ast  pf  tpMurphy     36  11   16   8  15  11   3   3  30Graves     30   4    9   8  10   2   2   1  17Hickey      9   1    3   0   0   4   0   4   2Wyche      20   4    7   2   2   1   0   0  12Ingelsby    5   0    0   0   0   0   0   1   0Rainey     21   0    1   0   0   2   4   1   0Dillon     35   3    7   1   2   1   7   1   7Swanagan   30   5    5   3   3   4   3   4  13Owens      10   1    1   0   0   0   0   1   2Palmer      4   0    0   0   0   0   1   1   0Team                             6        Totals    200  29   49  22  32  31  20  17  83

Providence (80)

Player    min  fg fga   ft fta reb ast  pf  tpConnolly   37   6 126    3   4   4   2   2  21Thomas     35   8  18    5   5   2   3   4  21Maxey      23   3   7    2   2   5   1   3   8Camah      19   3   4    2   4   2   1   5   9Linehan    20   0   4    0   0   3   4   1   0Wright     23   3   5    2   4   4   7   2   9Perkins     8   1   1    0   0   0   1   2   2Farley     17   3   8    0   0   3   0   4   6Cole       18   2   3    0   0   2   1   2   4Team                             3Totals    200  29  66   14  19  28  20  25  80

Halftime – Notre Dame 39, Providence 31

Turnovers – Notre Dame 20, Providence 13

Three-Point Field Goals – ND 3-7 (Graves 1-3, Wyche 2-3, Dillon 0-1), PC 8-25 (Connolly 6-13, Thomas 0-6, Camah 1-2, Linehan 0-2, Wright 1-2).

Attendance – 8,531

NOTRE DAME/E. KENTUCKY SERIES

  • Series: ND, 1-0
  • Current Streak: ND, 1
  • BIG EAST Games (since ’95-’96): N/A
  • At Notre Dame: 0-0
  • At Eastern Kentucky: 0-0
  • 1997-98 Meeting: N/A

1997-98 ND SCHEDULE/RESULTS

N.13    MIAMI (OHIO)                 L, 65-76N.15    YALE                         W, 64-62N.21    at Vanderbilt                L, 63-68N.25-28 at Carrs Great Alaska Shootout (Anchoarge, AK)N.26    vs. (1/1) Duke               L, 82-111N.27    at Alaska-Anch.              L ,82-88 (OT)N.28    vs. Southern Utah            W, 81-77D.1     (16/16) INDIANA              L, 72-76 (OT)D.5     CENTRAL MICHIGAN             W, 83-56D.8     * at Providence              W, 83-80D.19    EASTERN KENTUCKY             2:00 p.m.D.21    STETSON                      7:30 p.m.D.27    ST. FRANCIS (NY)             2:00 p.m.D.29    * SYRACUSE                   7:30 p.m.J.2     * VILLANOVA                  8:00 p.m.J.5     * PITTSBURGH                 8:00 p.m.J.9     * at Miami (Fla.)            7:30 p.m.J.12    * at Connecticut             7:30 p.m.J.16    * at Villanova              12:00 p.m.J.19    * SETON HALL                 7:30 p.m.J.23    * RUTGERS                   12:00 p.m.J.27    * at Boston College          7:30 p.m.J.30    * PROVIDENCE                12:00 p.m.F.6     * at Seton Hall             12:00 p.m.F.10    * GEORGETOWN                 9:00 p.m.F.14    * at West Virginia          12:00 p.m.F.17    * at Syracuse                7:30 p.m.F.21    * WEST VIRGINIA              2:00 p.m.F.24    * at St. John's              8:00 p.m.F.28    * BOSTON COLLEGE            12:00 p.m.M.3-6   at BIG EAST Tournament        Madison Sq. Garden (New York, NY)
* - Indicates BIG EAST Conference gameAll times are EST
Numbers before opponent indicate AP andESPN-USA Today rankings at time of game

UPCOMING DATES
Next Game: Monday, Dec. 21, vs. Stetson, 7:30 p.m. EST (TV: None)

Next Home Game: Monday, Dec. 21, vs. Stetson, 7:30 p.m. EST (TV: None)

JOHN MacLEOD FILE

Notre Dame Record (Yrs.)          96-113 (8th)Career College Record (Yrs.)    186-182 (14th)NBA Record (Yrs.)         707-657 (18 seasons)Career Record (Yrs.)            893-839 (32st)

BIG EAST STANDINGS
Through December 15

                  Conference  GB  Overall 1. Rutgers           2-0      -    7-1    St. John's        2-0      -    8-2    Seton Hall        2-0      -    6-3 4. Notre Dame        1-0    0.5    4-5    Connecticut       1-0    0.5    8-0    Miami             1-0    0.5    4-2 7. Villanova         1-1    1.0    8-2    West Virginia     1-1    1.0    4-4 9. Georgetown        0-1    1.5    6-310. Syracuse          0-2    2.0    7-3    Pittsburgh        0-2    2.0    7-4    Providence        0-2    2.0    6-4    Boston College    0-2    2.0    2-6

Saturday, December 19

  • Northwestern at Seton Hall, 12:00 p.m.
  • Holy Cross at Boston College, 1:00 p.m.
  • Eastern Kentucky at Notre Dame, 2:00 p.m.
  • Temple at Rutgers, 4:00 p.m.
  • Virginia Tech at West Virginia, 7:00 p.m.
  • Fordham at St. John’s, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, December 21

  • Stetson at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m.
  • Army at Seton Hall, 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, December 22

  • Md.-Eastern Shore at Georgetown, 7:00 p.m.
  • Robert Morris at West Virginia, 7:00 p.m.
  • Memphis at Miami, 7:30 p.m.
  • Howard at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
  • Fairleigh Dickinson at St. John’s, 7:30 p.m.
  • Rider at Villanova, 7:30 p.m.
  • Rutgers at Princeton, 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, December 23

  • Fairfield at Connecticut, 7:30 p.m.
  • Boston College at Northwestern, 8:00 p.m.

LAST TIME AGAINST SYRACUSE
Notre Dame 83, Syracuse 63
January 21, 1998
Joyce Center
Notre Dame, IN

Game No. 14

Syracuse (63)

Player    min  fg  fga  ft fta  reb ast pf  tpBurgan     34   8   18   3   3   3   3   2  22Blackwell  38   3    8   4   4   9   2   2  10Thomas     30   3    7   0   3   6   1   1   6Hart       32   3   12   2   2   3   2   4   9Janulis    26   2    5   0   0   0   0   5   5Campbell   14   1    6   0   0   2   0   2   2Griffin     8   2    2   1   2   1   1   3   6Williams    7   1    1   1   2   4   0   3   3Brown       1   0    1   0   0   0   0   0   0Ovcina     10   0    2   0   0   2   2   0   0Team                             4        Totals    200  23   62  11  16  34  11  22  63

Notre Dame (83)

Player    min  fg  fga  ft fta reb ast  pf  tpManner     25   3    5   1   3   5   2   1   7Garrity    39   7   12   6   7  10   3   2  21Hickey     33   1    7   0   0  12   1   3   2Wyche      20   0    1   2   2   2   2   1   2Ingelsby   33   3    5   1   2   0  10   2  10Friel      26   9   13   4   7   2   2   1  30Rainey      1   0    0   0   0   0   0   0   0Williamson 10   1    2   2   4   2   1   2   4Dillon      7   1    1   0   2   0   2   0   3Rasmussen   4   1    3   0   0   0   0   1   2Owens       1   1    1   0   0   0   0   0   2Palmer      1   0    0   0   0   0   0   0   0Team                             4Totals    200  27   50  16  27  37  24  13  83

Halftime – Notre Dame 38, Syracuse 36

Turnovers – Notre Dame 19, Syracuse 19

Three-Point Field Goals – SU 6-16 (Burgan 3-5, Blackwell 0-1, Hart 1-3, Janulis 1-3, Campbell 0-1, Griffin 1-1, Brown 0-1, Ovcina 0-1), ND 13-19 (Garrity 1-2, Wyche 0-1, Ingelsby 3-5, Friel 8-10, Dillon 1-1).

Attendance – 9,909

NOTRE DAME STARTING LINE:

No.   Player          Pos    Ht.    Wt.  Class    PPG    RPG    Other          Notes: 03    Troy Murphy     PF    6-9    225    Fr.    18.7    8.8    58.5 FG%       Two-time BIG EAST rookie of the week34    David Graves    SF    6-5    211    Fr.    15.4    3.4    11-32 3-pters. Seven double-figure scoring games55    Phil Hickey     C    6-11    272    Sr.     8.0    6.3    41.7 FG%       13 points vs. Duke, Southern Utah04    Antoni Wyche    SG    6-5    196    Sr.    12.1    2.6    34.0 3-FG%     Seven double-figure scoring games24    Martin Inglesby PG   5-11    171    So.     6.0    1.3    41 ast.        Eight assists vs. Alaska-Anchorage

NOTRE DAME OFF THE BENCH:

No.   Player                Pos   Ht.    Wt.  Class   PPG    RPG    Other       Notes: 15    Paul Rainey           F    6-1    191    Sr.    0.7    0.8    6.5 mins. per game    Career-high 21 minutes vs. Providence20    Leviticus Williamson  F    6-6    194    So.    1.2    0.6    60.0 FG%    Four points vs. Central Michigan21    Jimmy Dillon          G    6-2    171    Jr.    3.9    1.0    25 ast.     Career-high seven assists vs. Providence22    Dennis Carroll        G    6-5    207    Sr.    2.0    0.4    3 ast.      Three points in four games42    Harold Swanagan       F    6-6    242    Fr.    6.2    4.2    60.0 FG%    13 points vs. Providence43    Skylard Owens         F    6-4    210    Jr.    1.0    2.1    60.0 FG%    Six rebounds vs. Central Michigan44    Todd Palmer           F    6-6    220    Jr.    1.3    0.8    83.3 FT%    Three points vs. Central Michigan

HEAD COACH JOHN MacLEOD
Notre Dame head coach John MacLeod (Bellarmine ’59), the 1997 BIG EAST Conference coach of the year, is in his eighth season in charge of the Irish program. MacLeod, who led the Irish to the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament in ’92 and the quarterfinals of that event in ’97, has an overall record of 97-113 in his tenure at Notre Dame and an overall record of 187-182 in 13 years as a collegiate head coach as MacLeod was also the head coach at Oklahoma for six seasons from 1967-73.

MacLeod was a head coach in the National Basketball Association for 18 seasons (Phoenix Suns from 1973-87, Dallas Mavericks from 1987-90 and the New York Knicks from 1990-91). MacLeod has an overall mark of 707-657 as an NBA coach.

AGAINST RANKED TEAMS
Notre Dame has played a total of 44 games against teams ranked in the Associated Press poll during John MacLeod’s tenure as Irish coach. Notre Dame has defeated the last two of the last five ranked teams it has faced with an 83-63 win over No. 15/15 Syracuse on January 21, 1998, and a 74-72 win over No. 20/21 West Virginia on Jan. 15, 1998. The last time Notre Dame beat a top 10 team was Feb. 5, 1994, a 79-63 win over No. 4 UCLA.

THE INTERNET
The Notre Dame athletic department has its own Web site for varsity athletics, in conjunction with the Fans Only Network of Carlsbad, Calif. It includes media guides, press releases, game notes, statistics and other information distributed to the media – plus results from each athletic contest are updated daily. Access the site at www.und.com.
For men’s basketball, the site also includes RealAudio broadcasts of all games, updated real-time statistics for all home games and audio updates from the Notre Dame coaching staff.

JOHN MacLEOD SHOW
The John MacLeod show is broadcast each week during the basketball season and features game highlights, player interviews, player tips and trivia contests. The show, produced in conjunction with Host Communications, features John MacLeod and Jack Nolan of WNDU-TV in South Bend and the color commentator for Notre Dame basketball on the radio. The show can be seen on WNDU-TV, Fox Sports Chicago and various Fox Sports outlets throughout the country.