Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Men's Basketball Travels To West Virginia

Feb. 9, 2001

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20/23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (15-5, 7-2)
at WEST VIRGINIA Mountaineers (13-7, 4-5)

Date: Sunday, February 11, 2001
Place: WVU Coliseum (14,000)
Time: 2:00 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 — John Sanders (play-by-play) and Mark Plansky (color).

IRISH ITEMS FOR THE WEST VIRGINIA GAME:
Notre Dame (15-5, 7-2), winners of six straight and leading the West Division in the current BIG EAST standings, travels to West Virginia (13-7, 4-5) this afternoon for the second regular-season meeting between the two teams. This will be the third road game in four contests for the Irish who will be back on the road again on Wednesday night when they travel to Rugters for a 9:00 p.m. contest in Piscataway, N.J.

Notre Dame’s six consecutive wins have come against BIG EAST opponents. Notre Dame has not lost since dropping an 82-71 non-conference decision at Kentucky on Jan. 13.

In the first regular-season meeting between the Irish and Mountaineers, Notre Dame defeated West Virginia 78-61 at the Joyce Center for their third consecutive win in the series.

Notre Dame’s current six-game league win streak is its longest in school history since the Irish joined the league in 1995-96. Notre Dame won its 11th home game Monday night when the Irish used a 29-10 run in the second half to defeat St. John’s 83-73.

Notre Dame defense has been a key in the current six-game streak as the Irish are allowing just 65.0 ppg. Brey’s squad has only allowed 70-plus points in two games and have held opponents to 67 points and under in four of the last six contests.

The Irish are above the .500 mark in BIG EAST play for the first time in school history, while its 7-2 mark ranks as its best start in its six seasons as a league member.

West Virginia snapped its two-game losing streak on Thursday night at home with a 69-68 victory over PIttsburgh.

This afternoon’s game is the 22nd meeting between the two teams. Notre Dame leads the series 14-7 and has won five of the last games played, including three straight. Since joining the BIG EAST, the Irish are 1-2 at WVU Coliseum – their lone win was a 74-72 decision during the 1996-97 campaign.

Notre Dame is ranked 20th in the Associated Press ranking and is 23rd in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. The Irish returned to the top 25 ranking of the AP Poll last week after a two-week hiatus and is in the ESPN/USA Today 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 ST. JOHN’S:
Down by 10 (46-36) with 18:37 remaining in the contest, Notre Dame outscored the Red Storm 39-10 in a 14-minute stretch to win its sixth straight. Troy Murphy topped the 30-point mark for the fifth time this season and recorded his ninth double-double in scoring 34 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to lead the Irish. Ryan Humphrey registered his eighth double-double of the season in netting 16 points and grabbing 11 boards. It marked the fourth time this season that Murphy and Humphrey each recorded double-doubles in the same game.

Three other Irish players scored in double figures with David Graves chipping in 13 points and grabbing eights rebounds and Matt Carroll and Martin Ingelsby adding 10 points each. Ingelsby also dished off nine assists and committed just one turnover in 39 minutes of action.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 13-5 advantage less than seven minutes into the contest, but St. John’s came back to take a two-point lead with 6:05 remaining in the first half. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half, but a 7-2 Red Storm run to close out the first half gave St. John’s a four-point lead (40-36) at halftime. Heading into game, the Irish were 2-5 when trailing at halftime.

Notre Dame shot 55.1 percent from the field for the game as the Irish connected on 60.9 percent field goal accuracy in the second half. In the final 20-minute stanza, Brey’s squad missed just nine field goal attempts, hitting 14 of its 23 shots. The Irish also shot 74.2 percent from the free-throw line as they hit 23-of-31 attempts.

The Irish held St. John’s to just 38.4 percent accuracy from the field for the game. The Red Storm made just six free throws (and attempted 13). Notre Dame also held a 41-36 rebounding advantage.

POLL POSITION:
Notre Dame is ranked 20th in the Associated Press Poll after falling out for two weeks and is 23rd in the 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 114-57 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 (.730). 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 15-win mark (in 20 games) quicker than any other first-year coach in the program’s history. The last Notre Dame squad to pick up 15 wins in its first 20 games was the 1988-89 Irish team coached by Digger Phelps. That Notre Dame squad also produced a 15-5 mark through its first 20 games en route to finishing with a 21-9 overall mark.

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. WEST VIRGINIA:
Notre Dame leads the series 13-7 and has won five of the last six meetings between the two teams. West Virginia lost for the fourth straight time at the Joyce Center. Since joining the BIG EAST in 1995-96, Notre Dame has gone 5-3 against the Mountaineers.

Notre Dame is making its fourth appearance in six years at WVU Coliseum and is 1-2 in Morgantown the last three times it has played there.

IRISH POST BACK-TO-BACK WINS OVER TOP 10 OPPONENTS:
Notre Dame’s victories against Syracuse and Georgetown in consecutive games marked the first time in school history that an Irish team beat two top 10 opponents in back-to-back contests. When the Irish defeated the Orangemen 74-60 on Jan. 23, Syracuse was ranked eighth in the ESPN/USA Today ranking, while Georgetown was 10th in the Associated Press Poll before suffering a 78-71 setback to Notre Dame.

A BIG EAST MOMENT FOR IRISH:
Notre Dame’s six consecutive BIG EAST wins against Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse, Georgetown, Pittsburgh and St. John’s marks the first time since the Irish joined the league in 1995-96 that they have posted six straight wins over league foes. Notre Dame also is five games above the .500 mark for the first time since becoming a league member.

BIG EAST MOMENT II FOR IRISH:
Notre Dame’s back-to-back victories on the road over Georgetown (78-71 on Jan. 27) and Pittsburgh (75-67 on Feb. 3) mark just the second time since joining the BIG EAST that the Irish have won consecutive conference road games in consecutive outings. Only one other time, in 1998-99, did an Irish squad post two straight BIG EAST wins on the road – an 83-80 win at Providence on Dec. 8 which was followed by a 71-68 victory versus Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 9. A win today would mark the first time an Irish team has won three consecutive BIG EAST games on the road.

NOTE THE CHANGE IN MURPHY TELECONFERENCE SCHEDULE:
Troy Murphy once again will hold a weekly teleconference. On page 4 is a listing of those dates and times. Media should take note of the new time. All teleconferences will begin at 11:00 a.m. (a change from 11:15 a.m.), with one exception – the Feb. 15 teleconference will commence at 11:30 a.m.).

HE’S AN ESPY NOMINEE:
Troy Murphy is one of four nominees for an ESPY Award as the Men’s College Basketball Player of the Year. The ninth annual ESPY Awards will be shown live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on Mon., Feb. 12 at 9:00 p.m. EST on ESPN. Murphy is joined by Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State), Marcus Fizer (Iowa State) and Kenyon Martin (Cincinnati) as the nominees for 2000. All three of the other candidates are former collegians and currently on rosters in the National Basketball Association. Murphy has the rare distinction of perhaps winning an ESPY while still attending school.

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 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 month. 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 as the second-leading vote-getter among 30 preseason candidates announced for the 2000-01 Naismith College Basketball Player of the Year Award presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The preseason candidates including Murphy are: Shane Battier (Duke), Lonny Baxter (Maryland), Charlie Bell (Michigan State), Carlos Boozer (Duke), Cory Bradford (Illinois), Eric Chenowith (Kansas), Jarron Collins (Stanford), Juan Dixon (Maryland), Joe Forte (North Carolina), Jason Gardner (Arizona), Tony Harris (Tennessee), Udonis Haslem (Florida), Brendan Haywood (North Carolina), Casey Jacobson (Stanford), Richard Jefferson (Arizona), Joe Johnson (Arkansas), Ken Johnson (Ohio State), Kaspars Kambala (UNLV), Jason Kapono (UCLA), Mike Kelley (Wisconsin), Terence Morris (Maryland), Tayshaun Prince (Kentucky), Kenny Satterfield (Cincinnati), Brian Scalabrine (Southern California), Jamaal Tinsley (Iowa State), Jason Williams (Duke), Loren Woods (Arizona), Michael Wright (Arizona) and Vincent Yarbrough (Tennessee).

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 THIRD TIME:
Troy Murphy was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the third third time this season last week after averaging 25.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in leading the Irish to back-to-back wins over top 10 opponents Syracuse and Georgetown as he shared the honor with Troy Bell of Boston College. Murphy earned the player-of-the-week honors for the ninth time in his career after posting his 40th career double-double against Syracuse (34 points and 16 rebounds) and scoring 16 points and grabbing four rebounds versus Georgetown. He also was named the Rivals.com Player of the Week.

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 four 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.

HOT SHOOTING IRISH:
Before last Saturday night’s win at Pittsburgh, the Irish had shot under 45.0 percent in each of its six previous outings and had been 40.0 percent in four of those games. In the win over the Panthers, Notre Dame hit 27-of-50 from the field for a 54.0 percent shooting accuracy for the game. Notre Dame was 13-23 (56.6 percent) in the first half and 14-27 (51.9 percent) in the final 20 minutes. Against St. John’s on Monday night, the Irish continued their shot shooting as they connected on 27 of their 49 attempts for a 55.1 shooting percentage. Notre Dame was particulary efficient in the second half as it connected on 14 of its 23 attempts (60.9 percent). In the last two games versus Pittsburgh and St. John’s, the Irish have connected on 54.4 percent of its shots (54-99).

Since Jan. 2, Notre Dame have shot 50.0 percent for better on just four occasions and nine times total during the season – 50.0 percent vs Syracuse and 60.8 percent vs. Rutgers. Since that Rutgers contest on Jan. 6, Notre Dame has connected 199 of its 464 attempts for a 42.9 percent shooting accuracy. The Irish shot a season-low 35.6 percent (26-73) against Seton Hall on Jan. 8.

ORANGEMEN FIRST TOP 10 VICTIM AT JOYCE CENTER SINCE 1994:
Notre Dame had two wins against top 10 opponents during the 1999-2000 season, but both of those victories occurred on the road. Prior to their win against Syracuse on Jan. 23, 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’:
Notre Dame’s recent four-game sweep of BIG EAST opponents Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse and St. John’s extended its home win streak to nine games. The Irish now, 11-2 at home, have three games remaining at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame was 16-4 at home a year ago, and since the start of last season, have won 81.8 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 two games, one of the two has either led or tied for team-high scoring honors. The Murphy-Humphrey combination has led Notre Dame in rebounding in 19 of 20 contests. David Graves led the Irish in scoring (20 points) against Tennessee Tech on Dec. 17, while Harold Swanagan’s 10 rebounds against Pittsburgh on Jan. 16 marked the first time all season that either Murphy or Humphrey was not the team’s leading rebounder. Murphy has been the leading scorer and rebounder in 15 and eight 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 Monday night against St. John’s 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).

THE MURPHY-HUMPHREY-GRAVES COMBINATION LEADS THE WAY:
Notre Dame’s trio of Troy Murphy and Ryan Humphrey and David Graves continue to put up impressive numbers. Murphy leads the team in scoring as he is averaging 23.7 points and is second in the rebounding column with 9.3rebounds per game, while Humphrey is second in scoring (15.1 ppg.) and leads the team with a 9.7 rebounding average. Graves also owns a 15.0 scoring average. The trio is responsible for 65.9 percent of the team’s offensive scoring (1,075 of 1,639 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, Notre Dame’s 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 Jan. 27 against 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), 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 91 (61.7 percent) of Notre Dame’s 149 three-point field goals and has attempted 218 (57.7 percent) of the team’s 378 shots from beyond the arc. Carroll is shooting 44.0 from three-point range, while Graves has made 39.8 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.

IRONMAN:
Martin Inglesby leads the team in minutes played this season as he is averging 37.1 minutes per game. He has played the entire 40 minutes in six of nine BIG EAST contests and in eight 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 81.9 points per game and outscoring its opponents by 12.2 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.

500TH GAME AT JOYCE CENTER:
Notre Dame played its 500th game at the Joyce Center on Nov. 18 against Sacred Heart. The Irish are 396-116 all-time at the Joyce Center for a .773 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 has 132 blocks as a team and that figure already ranks as the second most in a season for an Irish team. The single-season team record is 145 set by the 1991-92 Notre Dame team. The Irish had 110 blocks as a team a year ago. Ryan Humphrey leads the team with 58, while Troy Murphy is second with 42.

GRAVES GROOVIN’ OFF THE BENCH:
David Graves has come off the bench in Notre Dame’s last six games and has proven to be a very effective player in his new role. Graves, who has missed just eight starts in 87 career games, had been a starter in 31 consecutive games before having that streak snapped against Pittsburgh on Jan 16. In the last six games, he has averaged 14.8 points and 6.0 rebounds coming off the bench. He had a season-high 24 points against Pittsburgh on Feb. 1.

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 1,158 points in 87 career games for a 13.3 career scoring average heading into this evening’s game and currently ranks 28th 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 (1,831 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 1488 points and Sweet 1,410 points. Graves and Murphy have combined for 2,989 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 six games beginning with the Pittsburgh game on Jan. 16. Swanagan will be in the starting lineup this evening for the seventh straight game (and eighth time this season). Against the Panthers in his second start of the season, Swanagan played a season-high 22 minutes and finished with seven points (tying his then season-high) and a game-high 10 rebounds. The 10 boards marked a season best for him and also was the fifth time in which he grabbed 10-plus rebounds in a game during his career. He had six points and nine rebounds against West Virginia and scored a then season-high nine points against the Orangemen. 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.

Some other noteworthy statistics include: 83 of 84 games in double figure scoring, 41 career double-doubles, 16 career games with 30-plus points and 49 contests with 20-plus points.

MURPHY GETS 100TH BLOCK:
Troy Murphy blocked his 100th career shot against Long Island on Fri., Dec. 29 and currently second on the Notre Dame all-time career shot-blocking list with 118. LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92) is the Irish all-time leader in this category with 200.

HUMPREY APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS:
Ryan Humphrey is 62 points from reaching the 1,000-point mark. The Irish forward has scored 302 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 83 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 becoming just the 10th Irish player to reach that mark. Murphy has 833 rebounds in his career and is one of just two Notre Dame players in history to score 1,700 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 472 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 4.18 assist average in 113 career games.

FOLLOWING TROY ON THE WEB:
Follow All-American Troy Murphy on the world wide web at http://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 20 games into his Notre Dame career, Ryan Humphrey has already posted eight double-doubles in an Irish uniform. His most recent came against St. John’s on Monday night scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He has registered double-doubles in seven of the last 14 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 53 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 last Saturday night’s 24-point outing against Pittsburgh. He had three consecutive outings (a first in his career) in which he scored 20-plus points against Tennessee Tech (20 points), Canisius (season-high 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 NINE:
Troy Murphy registered his ninth double-double of the season, and 41st of his career against St. John’s on Feb. 2 when he scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. 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) and Syracuse (34 points, 16 rebounds). He has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 42 career games.

FREE-THROW SHOOTING WOES APPEAR SOLVED:
Notre Dame appears to have solved some of its free-throw shooting problems as the Irish have made 77.1 percent from the charity stripe in the last seven games (181-236). 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 on the road at Georgetown, 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 Saturday night, the 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 last three games versus Georgetown, PIttsburgh and St. John’s, Notre Dame is a combined 37-50 (74.0 percent) overall in the final four minutes of the contest.

STREAKING ALONG:
Troy Murphy’s 34 points against St. John’s extended his streak of double figure scoring games to 71. The junior forward has netted double figures in 83 of 84 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 20 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 49 times in 84 career games.

IRISH THREE-POINTERS EXTEND TO 70 STRAIGHT GAMES:
Notre Dame’s six three-pointers against St. John’s extended its consecutive games with a three-pointer to 70 games. The Irish streak nearly ended eight days ago when they had just one three-pointer (a season low) against Pittsburgh. 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 has hit a three-pointer in 50 straight games. The last time he failed to make a three-pointer was against Maryland on Nov. 26, 1999. In 87 career games, he has had at least one three-point field goal in all but 10 contests. Graves scored the lone three-pointer against Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

ANSWERING THE CALL:
In a recent addition of ESPN Magazine, ESPN analyst and former Duke basketball standout Jay Bilas highlighted five point guards nationally who have played vital roles for their teams this season. Among the five mentioned was Irish senior Martin Inglesby, currently leading the BIG EAST in assist-to-turnover ratio. Here’s what Bilas had to say about Ingelsby’s play:

“Last season, Matt Doherty benched Ingelsby in favor of Jimmy Dillon. Now Dillon and Doherty are gone and Mike Brey has put the ball back into Ingelsby’s hands. So what if he didn’t have much choice? Point is, the 6-0 senior has responded. In the second half of Notre Dame’s win over Cincinnati on Nov. 25, Ingelsby showed some onions by taking Kenny Satterfield off the dribble to ignite an Irish run. Through six games, he was averaging 7.2 points, hitting 48% on threes and had 41 assists vs. seven turnovers – the kind of stats that soothe any coach.”

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 20 games this season, he leads the team in minutes played (37.1) and is averaging 7.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists.

DISHING IT OUT:
Martin Ingelsby leads the Irish with 139 assists. Most impressive is the fact that he has committed just 38 turnovers in 20 games. He had a career-high 13 assists against Rutgers, 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 703 of a possible 800 minutes and is averaging a turnover every 21.0 minutes and just 1.90 turnovers per game. Ingelsby’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.66 leads the BIG EAST Conference.

CONSISTENT CARROLL:
No Irish player has been as consistent throughout the season has sophomore Matt Carroll. He registered double figures for the 32nd time in his career (and 14th time this season) against St. John’s as he scored 10 points. He is shooting 47.1 (81-172) percent from the field, 44.0 (44-100) from three-point range and 82.1 (32-39) from the charity stripe. Even more impressive is that he is second in the assist column with 86 (4.3 per game).

UNSELFISH IRISH:
The most telling statistic in Notre Dame’s 20 games – the 388 assists (19.4 per game). Notre Dame has made a total of 570 field goals which translates into an assist for every 1.46 baskets. As a team, the Irish have committed 300 turnovers, resulting in a 1.29 assist-to-turnover ratio and a turnover every 2.67 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 7.45 three-pointers (149-378) in 20 games. David Graves leads the way with 47, while Matt Carroll has made 44 and Martin Ingelsby 31. 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 473 points he has scored in 20 games have elevated him to fifth on the scoring list with 1,831 career points. Against St. John’s, Murphy passed Tom Hawkins (1956-59), who scored 1,820 points during his career. He now needs 228 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 41 career double-doubles. He has scored in double figures in 83 of 84 career games he has played and has registered double figures in 71 straight contests heading into this afternoon’s matchup with Georgetown. The only time Murphy has failed to score in double figures was against Syracuse on Dec. 29, 1998.

LIGHTS, CAMERA ACTION:
Notre Dame will make nine national television appearances during the 2000-01 season as the Irish will be featured three times on CBS and six times on ESPN. It is the most regular-season telecasts since the 1988-89 campaign when that Notre Dame squad also had nine of its games nationally televised. The national lineup is as follows: Indiana (Tues., Dec. 5 on ESPN), at Syracuse (Tues., Jan. 2 on ESPN), at Seton Hall (Mon., Jan. 8 on ESPN), at Kentucky (Sat., Jan. 13 on CBS), St. John’s (Mon., Feb. 5 on ESPN), at Rutgers (Wed., Feb. 14 on ESPN), Seton Hall (Sun., Feb. 18 on CBS), at Connecticut (Mon., Feb. 26 on ESPN) and Georgetown (Sun., Mar. 4 on CBS).

IRISH LIFE SKILLS PROGRAM HONORED AS ONE OF NATION’S BEST:
The Notre Dame CHAMPS/Life Skills Program has been identified as one of the best in the nation by the NCAA Division I-A Athletic Directors’ Association. Notre Dame received one of four program of excellence award at the Association’s Sept. 25 awards dinner in Dallas. Honored along with Notre Dame were Arizona State University, the University of Iowa and Michigan State University. Notre Dame’s Life Skills Program currently is under the direction of Bernard Muir, associate athletic director for student-athlete welfare.

In existence since August 1996, Notre Dame’s Life Skills Program is committed to the total development of the University’s student-athletes. It fosters the cultivation of skills that allow for their maximization on and off the playing field. The program develops and implements events and activities which are designed to facilitate learning in five key areas: academic excellence, athletic success, career preparation, community involvement and personal development. By the time a Notre Dame student-athlete graduates, he or she will have participated in approximately 40 hours of required skill building and development workshops in each key area. All freshmen and their parents participate in orientation sessions designed to assist in the transition into the University and to inform them about the Life Skills Program as well as other support services.