Feb. 20, 2001
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No. 10/9 BOSTON COLLEGE Eagles (19-3, 10-2) at
18/18 NOTRE DAME Fighting Irish (17-6, 9-3)
Date: Wednesday, February 21, 2001
Place: Joyce Center (11,418)
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
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, WNTS-1590 AM in Indianapolis, WAUR-930 AM in Chicago, WGL-1250 AM WGL 1570 AM in Ft. Wayne, WEFM-95.9 FM in Michigan City, WGOM-860AM in Marion, WVHI-1330 AM in Evansville, WLUV-1520 AM in Rockford, Ill., KATD-990AM in San Francisco, Ca-lif., WDEL-1550 AM in Wilmington, Del., and KIND-1010AM in Independence, Kan.). All radio broadcasts can also be heard through the World Wide Web at www.und.com.
Television: ESPN Regional — Don Criqui (play-by-play) and Bob Wenzel (color). WHME in South Bend, Ind. and New England Sports Network (NESN) in Boston, Mass.
IRISH ITEMS FOR THE BOSTON COLLEGE GAME:
In a matchup of the two top teams from the BIG EAST West and East divisions, Notre Dame (17-6, 9-3) plays host to Boston College (19-3, 10-2) in the only scheduled regular-season meeting between the two teams. The Irish ranked 18th in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today rankings and winners of eight of their last nine games, will look to rebound from their 74-64 loss to Seton Hall on Sunday which snapped a school-record eight-game BIG EAST win streak. The Eagles, 10th in the AP and ninth in the ESPN/USA Today polls, are the first team in the league to win 10 conference games this season, have been victorious in seven of their eight outings. They posted an 81-73 victory over Providence at home on Saturday night after dropping an 82-71 decision on the road at Connecticut in their previous outing.
First-year head coach Mike Brey’s Irish lost for the first time in more than a month against the Pirates on Sunday. Prior to the setback, Notre Dame had not lost since dropping an 81-72 non-conference decision at Kentucky on Jan. 13. It was also Note Dame’s first league loss since an 78-76 setback to Seton Hall at the Continental Airlines Arena on Jan. 8.
First-year head coach Mike Brey’s Irish are in first place in the West Division after winning eight straight. The streak included four home games and four road contests. The Irish won their fourth straight road game with an impressive 81-59 victory at Rutgers one week ago. While its a first for a Notre Dame team to win four consecutive league games on the road, it also marked the first time that an Irish team produced victories in four straight road games on the homecourt of its opponent since the 1973-74 campaign when that squad defeated Ohio State (76-72), Northwestern (98-74), Indiana (73-67) and Kansas (76-74).
Tonight’s game is the second of two straight home games for the Irish. Following this evening’s matchup, Notre Dame will play on the road for the final time during the regular-season with back-to-back contests at Virginia Tech (Sat., Feb. 24) and Connecticut (Mon., Feb. 26) before returning home for the final game of the regular season when the Irish play host to Georgetown (Sun., Mar. 4).
Notre Dame’s loss to Seton Hall also snapped a nine-game win streak at home where the Irish are 11-3 this season. Prior to losing to the Pirates, Brey’s squad had not lost at home since dropping a 73-64 decision to Miami of Ohio on Dec. 9. The 64 points scored by the Irish against the Pirates matched the season low they had in the loss to the RedHawks.
The Irish are six games above the .500 mark in BIG EAST play for the first time in school history and have assured themselves of a winning record since joining the league in 1995-96. Their 9-3 mark ranks as its best start in its six seasons as a league member.
Tonight’s game will mark the 18th meeting between the two teams. Boston College leads the series, but the Irish have won three of the last four meetings between the two teams. All three of those victories have come at the Joyce Center, including last year’s 86-77 win.
Notre Dame is ranked 18th in both polls. The Irish dropped four spots in the AP ranking, but moved up three spots in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. Brey’s squad returned to the top 25 ranking of the AP Poll four weeks ago after a two-week hiatus and is in the ESPN/USA Today for the third straight week following a three-week absence. Notre Dame was ranked in the first 10 polls of the season after starting the preseason ranked for the first time since the 1989-90 campaign. Notre Dame started the preseason tied for 15th in the preseason AP Poll and were 17th in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. Notre Dame climbed as high as 10th in both polls on Dec. 4, but dropped from the top 10 after suffering back-to-back setbacks to Indiana and Miami (Ohio).
RECAP OF SETON HALL:
Notre Dame had its worst shooting performance of the season as the Irish shot just 32.0 percent from the field as they saw their eight-game BIG EAST win streak snapped. The Irish were just 24-75 from the field and managed just a 8.7 percent accuracy from three-point range as they connected on just two of their 23 three-point field goal attempts.
Troy Murphy recorded his 11th double-double of the season and 43rd double-double of his career as he scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, He was one of three Irish players in double figures. Matt Carroll scored 13 points and tied his personal best with nine rebounds, while Ryan Humphrey added 12 points.
Notre Dame, which never led in the contest, outrebounded the Pirates 53-47 on the boards. The Irish trailed by eight (35-27) at halftime, but cut the margin to three (37-34) with 16:59 to play in the game. A 13-4 run gave the PIrates a 12-point advantage with 11:14 remaining as the Irish could not get closer than six points in the final 38 seconds of the contest.
POLL POSITION:
Notre Dame is ranked 18th in the Associated Press Poll, down four spots from a week ago and jumped three places to 18th in this week’s ESPN/USA Today ranking. The Irish were ranked in the first 10 polls to start the season and climbed as high as 10th in both rankings during the week of Dec. 4 before falling out of the top 10 after back-to-back home losses to Indiana and Miami of Ohio.
HEAD COACH MIKE BREY:
Mike Brey was named the 17th head coach in the program’s history on July 14, 2000 following five seasons (1995-2000) as head coach at the University of Delaware. Brey earned his first victory as Irish head coach on Nov. 18 with a 104-58 triumph over Sacred Heart. The win marked the 100th of his coaching career and came in the 152nd game of his coaching career. He has an overall record of 116-58 for a .667 winning percentage. He guided the Blue Hens to a 99-52 record during his tenure while earning berths in three postseason tournaments. Under Brey, Delaware appeared in two NCAA tournaments (’98 and ’99) and played in the National Invitation Tournament in his final season (2000). His .667 winning percentage among Division I coaches with five years as a head coach stands second only to Tom Izzo of Michigan State (.733). Prior to his arrival in Newark, Del., he spent eight seasons (1987-95) on the Duke sidelines along Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and before that stint was an assistant coach at DeMatha High School under legendary coach Morgan Wootten from 1982-87.
BREY AND MENTOR KRZYZEWSKI REACH MILESTONES ONE DAY APART:
First-year head coach Mike Brey earned his 100th career victory (in 152 games as a head coach) against Sacred Heart on Nov. 18. That win came just one day after his former mentor, Mike Krzyzewski, earned his 500th win at Duke on Nov. 17. Brey was an assistant under Krzyzewski at Duke from 1987-95.
FIRST-YEAR SUCCESS:
Mike Brey reached the 17-win mark (in 22 games) quicker than any other first-year coach in the program’s history. The last Notre Dame squad to pick up 17 wins in its first 22 games was the 1988-89 Irish team coached by Digger Phelps. That team finished with a overall record of 21-9.
MOST WINS IN THE REGULAR SEASON:
Notre Dame’s 17 wins are the most from an Irish team during the regular season since the 1988-89 campaign. The last Notre Dame team to post 18 wins in its first 23 contests was the 1980-81 squad. That Irish team won 19-4 after its first 23 games en route to a 23-6 final record.
BREY vs. RANKED OPPONENTS:
As a head coach at both Notre Dame and Delaware, Mike Brey has coached in 11 games against ranked opponents. Notre Dame’s game against Georgetown last Saturday marked the fifth ranked opponent the Irish had faced this season. Brey earned his first win as a head coach over a ranked opponent when Notre Dame beat then 16th-ranked Cincinnati 69-51 at the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, Ind., on Nov. 25, 2000. The 74-60 win over Syracuse was his first against a top 10 opponent. The Orangemen entered the contest eighth in the ESPN/USA Today ranking.
NOTRE DAME vs. BOSTON COLLEGE:
Tonight’s game will be the third time in four outings that the Irish and Eagles will be playing at the Joyce Center. This will be the 18th meeting between the two schools with Boston College holding a 9-8 advantage in the series. The Irish have been victorious three of the last four times the two schools have met, including last year’s 86-77 victory at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame is 5-3 against the Boston College at the Joyce Center.
A BIG EAST MOMENT FOR THE IRISH:
Notre Dame’s eight consecutive BIG EAST wins against Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, St. John’s and Rutgers marked the first time since the Irish joined the league in 1995-96 that they had posted eight straight wins over league foes. Notre Dame also is six games above the .500 mark for the first time since becoming a league member.
BIG EAST MOMENT II FOR IRISH:
Notre Dame’s four straight road wins at Georgetown (78-71 on Jan. 27), Pittsburgh (75-67 on Feb. 3), West Virgina (69-66 on Feb. 11) and Rutgers (81-59 on Feb. 14) is the first time since the Irish joined the BIG EAST that they have won three consecutive road games in the league. Heading into last Sunday’s matchup with the Mountaineers, the Irish had only once won consecutive BIG EAST road outings — in 1998-99 when they defeated Providence 83-80 on Dec. 8, which was followed by a 71-68 victory versus Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 9.
SERIES SWEEPS:
Notre Dame earned its third series sweep when the Irish defeated Rutgers on Feb. 14. Head Coach Mike Brey’s squad has also swept series against PIttsburgh and West Virginia this season. Prior to the 2000-01 campaign, Notre Dame had only had three series sweeps in its previous five seasons as a member of the BIG EAST — Syracuse in 1996-97, Seton Hall in 1998-99 and Connecticut in 1999-2000.
MURPHY AND THE WOODEN WATCH:
Troy Murphy is among the top 30 candidates and one of four BIG EAST players named to the midseason list for the 2001 John R. Wooden Award. Murphy, a member of the 2000 John R. Wooden All-America team, was one of the top 25 vote-getters on the Preseason List of 50 which was announced in the fall. He and Duke senior Shane Battier are the only two previous candidates among the current list of 30. The 10-member Wooden Award All-America team will be announced on March 27, 2001. From that squad, one member will receive the Wooden Award Trophy as the nation’s “Most Outstanding Collegiate Basketball Player.” The announcement will be made on April 6, 2001, and will be shown on a one-hour telecast on Fox Sports Net. The three other BIG EAST players on the list of 30 include Albert Mouring of Connecticut, Eddie Griffin of Seton Hall and Preston Shumpert of Syracuse.
MURPHY IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
Certainly Troy Murphy can stake claim to being the most publicized men’s collegiate basketball player in the past two months. Feature articles appeared in three major sports publications on the junior All-American. Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl profiled Murphy in a piece entitled “Troy Story”, which appeared in the Dec. 25 issue of the magazine, while Mike DeCoursey wrote an article entitled “Getting a Slight Edge” for The Sporting News which hit the newsstands before the Christmas holiday. Curry Kirkpatrick has a piece entitled “Murphy’s Law” in the Jan. 8 bi-weekly edition of ESPN Magazine.
NAISMITH WATCH:
Troy Murphy is listed among the Top 15 finalistis for the 2000-01 Nasmith College Basketball Player of the Year as was announced on Feb. 12. Murphy is one of four BIG EAST players among the final 15 in consideration for the Award. The 14 finalists along with Murphy include: Shane Battier (Duke), Charlie Bell (Michigan State), Troy Bell (Boston College), Michael Bradley (Villanova), Jarron Collins (Stanford), Joe Forte (North Carolina), Eddie Griffin (Seton Hall), Brendan Haywood (North Carolina), Casey Jacobson (Stanford), Terence Morris (Maryland), Jason Richardson (Michigan State), Jamaal Tinsley (Iowa State), Jason Williams (Duke) and Michael Wright (Arizona).
Murphy is not the only Notre Dame player named a Naismith finalist. All-American Ruth Riley, a senior, is a contender for the award on the women’s side.
HUMPHREY NAMED CBS PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Ryan Humphrey was selected as the CBS Player of the Game versus Kentucky after recording his seventh double-double of the season as he finished with 12 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.
MURPHY COPS BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS FOR FOURTH TIME:
Troy Murphy was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the fourth time last week after averaging 24.3 points and 10.5 rebounds in leading the Irish to wins over St. John’s and West Virginia. He had 34 points and 11 rebounds against the Red Storm and scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds versus the Mountaineers. Murphy shares the honor with Todd Billet of Rutgers. He earned the player-of-the-week honor for the 10th time in his career.
MAKING THE GRADE:
While Irish head coach Mike Brey is pleased with his team’s play on the court, he can be equally proud of his squad’s performance in the classroom. The team earned an overall grade-point average of 3.027 for the fall semester, the highest combined average since 1992 (when records were first kept). It was the first semester above a 3.00 for any Notre Dame men’s basketball team in 17 semesters. Seven of the 13 players earned a grade-point average of 3.178 and higher with three players earning Dean’s List recognition. The three players named to the Dean’s List were: senior marketing majors Martin Ingelsby (3.405) and Hans Rasmussen (3.467) and freshman Chris Markwood (3.400), enrolled in the First Year of Studies.
MURPHY JOINS “20-20” CLUB:
Troy Murphy turned in one of the most memborable performances in BIG EAST Conference history on Jan. 8 at Seton Hall with his 25-point and 20-rebound outing against the Pirates. It marked only the seventh time in league history and first time since 1992 that a player registered a “20-20” in conference game. The last Notre Dame player to grab 20-plus rebounds in a game was LaPhonso Ellis — 20 vs. Dayton on Jan. 27, 1992 in a 76-54 victory.
ORANGEMEN FIRST TOP 10 VICTIM AT JOYCE CENTER SINCE 1994:
Notre Dame had two wins against top 10 opponents during 1994, but both of those victories occurred on the road. Prior to Tuesday night’s win against Syracuse, the Irish had not beaten a top 10 opponent at home since Feb. 5, 1994 when Notre Dame handed UCLA a 79-63 setback. At the time, the Bruins were ranked fourth in the Associated Press Poll and were tied for second in the ESPN/USA Today ranking.
HOME COOKIN’:
Following Sunday’s 74-64 setback to Seton Hall, the Irish are now 11-3 at home this season. The loss was the first in BIG EAST play for Notre Dame at the Joyce Center this season and also snapped a nine-game win streak. Prior to losing to the Pirates, the Irish had posted four consecutive BIG EAST wins against Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse and St. John’s. Notre Dame was 16-4 at home a year ago, and since the start of last season, have won 79.4 percent of its games at the Joyce Center.
PRODUCTIVE FRONTLINE SHOWS SCORING AND REBOUNDING VERSATILITY:
Notre Dame’s frontline duo of Troy Murphy and Ryan Humphrey have proven to be a formidable match for Irish opponents. In all but four games, one of the two has either led or tied for team-high scoring honors. The Murphy-Humphrey combination also has led Notre Dame in rebounding in 20 of 23 contests. David Graves led the Irish in scoring against Tennessee Tech (20 points) on Dec. 17 and West Virginia (17 points) on Jan. 21, while Martin Ingelsby topped the scoring column with his 17-point effort on Sun., Feb. 11 versus West Virginia and Matt Carroll was the leading scorer against Rutgers on Wednesday night. Harold Swanagan’s 10 rebounds against Pittsburgh on Jan. 16 marked the first time all season that neither Murphy or Humphrey was not the team’s leading rebounder. Murphy has been the leading scorer and rebounder in 16 and 10 games, respectively, while Humphrey has led the Irish in scoring in two games and in rebounding on 11 occasions.
DOUBLE TROUBLE:
Troy Murphy and Ryan Humphrey have produced double-doubles in the same contest in four games this season. The most recent outing was against St. John’s on Feb. 3 as Murphy scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Humphrey scored 16 points and grabbed 11 boards. The other three games in which the two combined for double-doubles were against Canisius (Murphy-29 points, 15 rebounds and Humphrey-20 points, 11 rebounds), Long Island (Murphy-24 points, 10 rebounds and Humphrey-20 points, 11 rebounds) and Kentucky (Murphy-14 points, 11 rebounds and Humphrey-12 points, 13 rebounds). Murphy has 11 double-doubles this season, while Humphrey has eight.
THE MURPHY-HUMPHREY-GRAVES COMBINATION LEADS THE WAY:
Notre Dame’s trio of Troy Murphy, Ryan Humphrey and David Graves continue to put up impressive numbers. Murphy leads the team in both scoring and rebounding as he is averaging 23.0 points and 9.4 rebounds, while Humphrey is second in both categories averaging 14.8 ppg. and 9.2 rpg. Graves owns a 14.1 scoring average. The trio is responsible for 63.6 percent of the team’s offensive scoring (1,179 of 1,853 points). The three scored 20-plus points each in back-to-back games against Canisius and Vermont on Dec. 19 and 21, respectively. In the victory over the Catamounts, Murphy and Graves each had 21 points in the win, while Humphrey added 20. In the previous outing against Canisius, just 48 hours prior to the win over the Catamounts on Dec. 21, Murphy had 29 points, Graves 23 and Humphrey 20. That game marked the first time since the 1991-92 season that three players contributed 20 or more points in a game. The last time it happened was in Notre Dame’s 101-98 victory over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on February 15, 1992 when LaPhonso Ellis, Daimon Sweet and Elmer Bennett had 28, 24 and 22 points, respectively.
SPREADING THE WEALTH:
Notre Dame had all five of its starters in double figures for the third time this season in the loss at Kentucky. All five Irish starters also reached double-figure scoring in a win over Canisius and in the loss to Indiana. When all five starters — Troy Murphy, Ryan Humphrey, David Graves, Matt Carroll and Martin Ingelsby — reached double figures against the Hoosiers, it marked the first time since the 1998-99 campaign that all five starters scored 10-plus points in game. That season, all five of Notre Dame’s starting members reached double figures three times in games against Stetson, St. Francis (N.Y.) and Boston College. Five players, four starters (Murphy, Humphrey, Harold Swanagan and Carroll) and Graves who came off the bench, scored in double figures in the win at Georgetown.
IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR:
All 12 players who played in the game against Long Island on Dec. 29 in the final game of 2000 contributed points in the final 97-point outing — Troy Murphy (24), Ryan Humphrey (20), David Graves (14), Matt Carroll (14), Jere Macura (7), Harold Swanagan (3), Ivan Kartelo (4), Charles Thomas (3), Martin Ingelsby (2), Torrian Jones (2), Hans Rasmussen (2) and Tom Timmermans (2).
WING-ING IT:
The perimeter play of outside shooters David Graves and Matt Carroll give the Irish a deadly three-point shooting arsenal. The duo has made 99 (59.6 percent) of Notre Dame’s 166 three-point field goals and has attempted 247 (57.2 percent) of the team’s 432 shots from beyond the arc. Carroll is shooting 42.7 from three-point range, while Graves has made 37.7 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
IRONMAN:
Martin Inglesby leads the team in minutes played this season as he is averging 37.4 minutes per game. He has played the entire 40 minutes in seven of 12 BIG EAST contests and in nine games overall. The two non-league games which he played the entire 40 minutes were against Vanderbilt and Miami of Ohio.
OVER THE 100-MARK PLATEAU:
The Irish went over the 100-point mark in its first two games of the season posting victories over Sacred Heart (104-58) and Loyola (107-68). It marked the first time since the 1985-86 campaign that a Notre Dame team registered back-to-back 100-point contests. It also was the first time in school history that an Irish team began the season scoring 100-plus points in its first two contests.
POINTS A PLENTY:
Notre Dame is averaging 80.6 points per game and outscoring its opponents by 11.4 points per game. The Irish scored 90-plus points in three consecutive games — Canisius (99-91), Vermont (96-86) and Long Island (97-49). Brey’s squad has topped the 90-point mark five times overall this season.
“BIG” BIG EAST WIN:
Notre Dame’s 22-point margin of victory over Rutgers a week ago was the second-largest for the Irish in a BIG EAST road game in five-plus seasons. Last season, the Irish posted a 23-point win (77-54) at Georgetown for the largest point differential in a league road game for a Notre Dame team.
500TH GAME AT JOYCE CENTER:
Notre Dame played its 500th game at the Joyce Center on Nov. 18 against Sacred Heart. The Irish are 396-117 all-time at the Joyce Center for a .772 winning percentage since it began play in the inaugural 1968-69 season. The Irish were 16-4 (.800) at home in 1999-2000, marking the third time in school history they had 16 victories (the most at the Joyce Center). Notre Dame also recorded 16 wins at the Joyce during the 1976-77 and 1982-83 campaigns.
BLOCK PARTY:
Notre Dame set the single-season mark for blocks in its last outing against Seton Hall. The Irish have 146 for an average of 6.3 per game. The previos mark of 145 was set by the 1991-92 Notre Dame team. The Irish had 110 blocks during the 1999-2000 campaign. Ryan Humphrey leads the team with 63, while Troy Murphy is second with 46.
GRAVES JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB:
Junior David Graves joined Notre Dame’s 1,000-point club and became the 41st player in Irish basketball history to reach that mark. Graves tallied his 1,000th point in the win over Vermont on Dec. 21. He notched his 1,000th point in the second half on a free throw with 16:58 remaining in the contest. He has 1,182 points in 90 career games for a 13.1 career scoring average heading into this evening’s game and currently ranks 27th on the all-time Notre Dame scoring list.
A 1,000-POINT CLASS ACT:
With David Graves reaching the 1,000-point mark, he joined Troy Murphy (1,888 career points) as the second member of Notre Dame’s class of 2002 to reach that plateau. It marks the first time that a class has produced at least two 1,000-point scorers since the trio of LaPhonso Ellis, Elmer Bennett and Daimon Sweet. The three combined for 4,403 points from 1988-92 with Ellis scoring 1,505 points, Bennett 1,488 points and Sweet 1,410 points. Graves and Murphy have combined for 3,070 points in two-plus seasons.
SWANAGAN SPARKLES:
Since the Christmas break, Harold Swanagan’s play has earned him more and more playing time. The Irish junior has been one of the team’s most productive players and has been in the starting lineup in each of the last nine games beginning with the Pittsburgh game on Jan. 16. Swanagan will be in the starting lineup tonight for the 11th time this season. Since becoming a starter, he has scored in double figures in two of those games — 11 points at Georgetown and 10 at Rutgers. Against the Scarlet Knights, he played a season-high 28 minutes and also finished with a team-high six rebounds in the contest. In his second game as a starter this season (and first in the last eight-game stretch), Swanagan grabbed season-best 10 boards which marked the fifth time in his career he had 10-plus rebounds in a game. In the win at Georgetown, Swanagan finished with a season-best 11 points, six rebounds and two assists, and in addition, connected on all seven of his free-throw attempts from the field.
LEADER OF THE PACK:
The consistency of Troy Murphy as both a scorer and rebounder is remarkable when considering these numbers. Of the 87 career games he has played (he missed three games his freshman year because of a sprained ankle), Murphy has led or tied for team-high scoring and rebounding honors on 68 and 57 occasions, respectively.
Some other noteworthy statistics include: 86 of 87 games in double figure scoring, 43 career double-doubles, 16 career games with 30-plus points and 50 contests with 20-plus points.
MURPHY GETS 100TH BLOCK:
Troy Murphy blocked his 100th career shot against Long Island on Dec. 29 and currently second on the Notre Dame all-time career shot-blocking list with 122. LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92) is the Irish all-time leader in this category with 200.
HUMPREY APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS:
Ryan Humphrey is 39 points from reaching the 1,000-point mark. The Irish forward has scored 325 points in a Notre Dame uniform. Heading into his first season at Notre Dame Humphrey, who transferred from the University of Oklahoma, had 636 points. He has played in 85 career games and owns an 11.3 scoring average.
A MURPHY MOMENT:
Troy Murphy grabbed his 800th career rebound in Notre Dame’s win over Syracuse on Jan. 23 becoming just the 10th Irish player to reach that mark. Murphy has 864 rebounds in his career and is one of just two Notre Dame players in history to score 1,800 points and grab 800 rebounds. The only other Irish player to achieve that milestone was Tom Hawkins (1956-59) who scored 1,820 points and grabbed 1,318 rebounds during his career.
INGLESBY CONTINUES TO CLIMB ASSIST CHART:
Senior Martin Ingelsby dished off his 400th career assist against Vermont on Dec. 21. He currently has 489 career assists, good for fourth on the all-time career assist list. Ingelsby passed Rich Branning (1976-80) who finished his career with 466 assists. Ingelsby owns a 4.22 assist average in 116 career games.
FOLLOWING TROY ON THE WEB:
Follow All-American Troy Murphy on the world wide web at www.und.com/troymurphy. The site includes biographical information, statistics, pictures, a weekly diary, a listing of awards and honors and links to articles on the web which have been written on this Irish junior. For more information on the site, contact the Notre Dame Sports Information Office at (219) 631-7516.
MURPHY GOES HAWAIIAN:
Troy Murphy’s travels took him twice to Hawaii within a two-week span in August and early September. The Irish junior participated in the Pete Newell Big Man Camp just before returning to campus for the start of the school year and met up with former Notre Dame standout and 1997 BIG EAST Player of the Year Pat Garrity. Murphy made a second trip across the mainland when he played for the USA Men’s Select Team on Sept. 2 in Honolulu against the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team. The game was televised by NBC and Murphy finished with four points and three rebounds. St. John’s head coach Mike Jarvis served as the team’s coach.
DOUBLE-TAKE FOR HUMPHREY:
Just 22 games into his Notre Dame career, Ryan Humphrey has already posted eight double-doubles in an Irish uniform. His most recent came eight days ago against St. John’s (Feb. 3) as he scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He has registered double-doubles in seven of the last 16 games, and in back-to-back contests against Tennessee Tech (10 points, 12 rebounds) on Dec. 17, Canisius (20 points, 11 rebounds) on Dec. 19 and Long Island (20 points, 11 rebounds) on Dec. 21. Humphrey, who has 18 career double-doubles (10 in two seasons at Oklahoma), registered his first double-double at Notre Dame in the win over Cincinnati on Nov. 25 as he scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He also has had 10 or more rebounds in 26 games during his career and scored 10-plus points on 55 occasions. Humphrey also has scored 20-plus points in seven games throughout his career.
GRAVES PRODUCES BACK-TO-BACK-TO BACK 20-POINT OUTINGS:
David Graves has scored 20-plus points in four games this season. including a season-high 24-point performance against Pittsburgh on Feb. 3. He had three consecutive outings (a first in his career) in which he scored 20-plus points against Tennessee Tech (20 points), Canisius (23 points) and Vermont (21 points) and averaged 21.3 points in those victories. He has scored 20-plus points nine times during his career, which includes a 33-point effort against Vanderbilt during the 1999-2000 campaign.
MURPHY DOUBLE-DOUBLES REACHES 11:
Troy Murphy registered his 11th double-double of the season, and 43rd of his career against Seton Hall as he scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. West Virginia as he scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against West Virginia. Murphy’s other double-doubles have come against Sacred Heart (31 points, 14 rebounds), Vanderbilt (23 points, 11 rebounds), Canisius (29 points, 15 rebounds), Vermont (21 points, 13 rebounds), Long Island (24 points, 10 rebounds), Seton Hall (25 points, 20 rebounds), Kentucky (14 points, 11 rebounds), Syracuse (34 points, 16 rebounds), St. John’s (34 points, 11 rebounds) and West Virginia (15 points, 10 rebounds). He has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 44 career games.
FREE-THROW SHOOTING IN THE FINAL FOUR MINUTES:
As a team, Notre Dame is shooting 69.0 percent from the free-throw line and have made 73.8 percent from the charity stripe in the last eight games (228-309). Notre Dame had its best night from the line this season against Rutgers on Jan. 6, hitting 17-of-20 attempts for 85.0 percent accuracy. In Notre Dame’s victory over Georgetown on Jan. 27, the Irish converted 23 of its 28 chances from the charity stripe, including a 17 of their last 21 in the final four minutes. In the previous outing against Syracuse, Brey’s squad hit 83.9 percent from the line, connecting on 26 of its 31 attempts. That was a complete turnaround from its performance against Syracuse in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 2 when the Irish converted just 8-21 from the line (38.1 percent). Notre Dame was just 1-10 from the free-throw line in the first half of that contest (after making their first free throw attempt, the Irish missed their next 10). Against Pittsburgh on Feb. 3, th Irish were 20-25 from the line (80.0 percent accuracy) and were 12-14 in the final 1:33 of the contest. In the West Virginia game, Notre Dame did not attempt a free-throw in the first half, but did make 16 of its 20 attempts in the second half. In the last seven games, Notre Dame is a combined 44-60 (73.3 percent) overall in the final four minutes of the contest.
STREAKING ALONG:
Troy Murphy’s 24 points against Seton Hall extended his streak of double figure scoring games to 74. The junior forward has netted double figures in 86 of 87 contests throughout his career. The only time he failed to score in double figures was against Syracuse on Dec. 29, 1995 when he scored just five points. In that game all of his points came from the free-throw line (5-6) as he was 0-11 from the field.
THIRTY SOMETHING:
Troy Murphy has scored 30-plus points in five of Notre Dame’s 23 games this season. In addition to his 34 points against Syracuse and St. John’s, he netted a career-best 37 points in the win over Rutgers on Jan. 6. He also had 31 in the season opener against Sacred Heart on Nov. 18 and 30 vs. Cincinnati on Nov. 25. He scored 30 or more points in nine games last season and has 15 career 30-plus outings. He also has scored 20-plus points 50 times in 87 career games.
IRISH THREE-POINTERS EXTEND TO 73 STRAIGHT GAMES:
Notre Dame’s two three-pointers against Seton Hall extended its consecutive games with a three-pointer to 73 games. The Irish streak nearly ended at Pittsburgh when they had just one three-pointer (a season low) against the Panthers on Feb. 3. The last time the Irish failed to connect on at least one three-pointer in a game was against Connecticut in a 101-70 loss in Hartford, Conn., on January 12, 1999. Notre Dame set the school single-game three-point mark when it nailed 16 three-pointers against Loyola.
DIALING LONG DISTANCE:
David Graves’ streak of 50 consecutive games with a three-pointer came to an end on Sunday when he went 0-4 from beyond the three-point arc against West Virginia. Prior to this, the last time Graves failed to make a three-pointer was against Maryland on Nov. 26, 1999. In 90 career games, he has had at least one three-point field goal in all but 11 contests.
CARROLL LEADS IRISH AGAINST SCARLET KNIGHTS:
For the second time in his career, Matt Carroll led the Irish in scoring. The sophomore guard had a game and team-high 20 points on seven-for-nine shooting from the field against Rutgers in the win one week ago tonight. It marked the second 20-point outing of the season for Carroll who also had season-high 22 points against Loyola (Chicago) in the second game of the season. He also led the Irish in scoring one other time during his career — last season as a freshman versus Villanova when he scored 17 points in an 86-69 loss to the Wildcats on Feb. 8, 2000.
MACURA NETS SEASON HIGH:
Jere Macura had a season-high 10 points against Rutgers on Wednesday night as he connected on four-of-five shots from the field and played 13 minutes of the contest. It marked the sixth 10-plus outing in his career.
MY FAVORITE MARTIN:
Senior Martin Ingelsby returned to his role as a starter this season after serving as Notre Dame’s starting point guard for both the 1997-98 and 1998-99 campaigns. A starter in his first two seasons, Ingelsby lost his starting job in the seventh game of the season a year ago and averaged just 14.8 minutes and 4.8 points per game in 1999-2000. Through 23 games this season, he leads the team in minutes played (37.4) and is averaging 8.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists.
DISHING IT OUT:
Martin Ingelsby leads the Irish with 156 assists. Most impressive is the fact that he has committed just 45 turnovers in 23 games. He had a career-high 13 assists against Rutgers on Jan. 6, while commiting just one turnover. It marked the fourth time this season he had dished off 10-plus assists in a game. He dished off 11 assists in both the Loyola (Chicago) and Canisius contests, while also registering 10 assists in the win over Long Island. The 13 assists in the Rutgers game was the eighth time in his career in which he had dished off 10-plus assists. Ingelsby has played 860 of a possible 920 minutes and is averaging a turnover every 20.4 minutes and just 1.96 turnovers per game. Ingelsby’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.46 leads the BIG EAST Conference. He had a season-high five turnovers against Seton Hall in the recent loss to the Pirates.
CONSISTENT CARROLL:
No Irish player has been as consistent throughout the season has sophomore Matt Carroll. He registered double figures for the 35th time in his career (and 17th time this season) against Rutgers as he scored a game-high 20 points. He is shooting 47.6 (98-206) percent from the field, 42.7 (50-117) from three-point range and 85.1 (40-47 from the charity stripe. Even more impressive is that he is second in the assist column with 94 (4.09 per game).
UNSELFISH IRISH:
The most telling statistic in Notre Dame’s 23 games — the 423 assists (18.4 per game). Notre Dame has made a total of 645 field goals which translates into an assist for every 1.52 baskets. As a team, the Irish have committed 335 turnovers, resulting in a 1.26 assist-to-turnover ratio and a turnover every 2.75 minutes. Last season, Notre Dame had more turnovers (656) than assists (643).
IRISH SHOW TRIPLE THREAT AGAIN:
Notre Dame’s three-point shooting appears to be alive and healthy again this season as the Irish have canned an average of 7.22 three-pointers (166-432) in 23 games. Matt Carroll leads the way with 50, while David Graves has made 49 and Martin Ingelsby 38. In the season opener against Sacred Heart, the Irish began the game by hitting eight of their first nine three-pointers. They also had a school-record 16 against Loyola on Nov. 22. Last season, the Irish averaged 7.8 three-pointers per game en route to establishing the single-season mark with 287.
MURPHY MOVES INTO TOP 10 ON IRISH SCORING CHARTS:
Troy Murphy became the 40th player in Notre Dame history to score 1,000 points on Jan. 29, 2000 when the Irish defeated St. John’s. He started the season 16th on the all-time scoring list, but the 530 points he has scored in 23 games have elevated him to fifth on the scoring list with 1,888 career points. Against St. John’s, Murphy passed Tom Hawkins (1956-59), who scored 1,820 points during his career. He now needs 171 points to move into fourth on the all-time scoring list occupied by David Rivers (1984-88) who finished his career with 2,058 points.
Murphy became the second-youngest player in Irish history to score 1,000 points at 19 years and 272 days old. Former Irish All-American Adrian Dantley (1973-76) was 18 years and 355 days old when he scored his 1,000th point. Murphy also joined Dantley as the only Irish players to reach the 1,000-point mark in their sophomore seasons. He scored his 1,000th point in his 48th career game — the fifth-fastest among Notre Dame’s 1,000-point scorers. All-time leading scorer Austin Carr (1968-71) needed just 35 games, while Dantley needed 44. It took John Shumate (1972-74) and Bob Arnzen (1966-69) 46 games to score 1,000 points.
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE FOR MURPHY:
Among active Division I players through games of Jan. 15 according to STATS Inc., Troy Murphy is first with 43 career double-doubles. He has scored in double figures in 86 of 87 career games he has played and has registered double figures in 74 straight contests heading into tonight’s game. The only time Murphy has failed to score in double figures was against Syracuse on Dec. 29, 1998.
LIGHTS, CAMERA ACTION:
Notre Dame made its second of three appearances on CBS against Seton Hall on Sunday. The Irish also played on the network on Jan. 13 when they traveled to Kentucky. Sunday’s contest marked the first time since Feb. 9, 1992 (a 70-69 loss to Syracuse) that the CBS cameras had visited the Joyce Center. The final regular-season game against Georgetown here at the Joyce Center on March 4 also will be televised by CBS.