December 8, 1998
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Troy Murphy scored a game-high 30 points to lead Notre Dame to a 83-80 win over Providence College on Tuesday in the Big East opener for both teams.
Providence (6-3), which had its six-game winning streak snapped, pulled to within 81-79 on Corey Wright’s 3-pointer in the closing seconds. But Murphy was then fouled, and his two foul shots with 8 seconds left clinched the win for Notre Dame (4-5), which was 68 percent from the field on 15-of-22 shooting in the second half.
Murphy, who was 11-of-16 from the field and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, tied the highest point total by a freshman in a Big East opening game. Sean Connolly and Jamel Thomas each had 21 points for the Friars.
Providence broke out to a 13-2 lead in the opening minutes sparked by three consecutive 3-pointers, one from Jamal Camah and two from Connolly. Notre Dame then went on a 32-7 run in the next 11 minutes, with a combined 28 points from David Graves, Harold Swanagan and Murphy. The Friars closed the deficit to 39-31 at halftime.
Graves finished with 17 points and Swanagan with 13.