Feb. 26, 2001

Notre Dame at Connecticut Box Score

By JIM O’CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer

HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut used balanced offense and impressive defense to beat No. 13 Notre Dame 75-59 Monday night, a huge win for the Huskies in terms of their hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Caron Butler had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Souleymane Wane added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Huskies (19-9, 8-7 Big East), who have won four of five and six of eight since snapping a five-game losing streak.

The win was the fifth this season over a team ranked in top 50 by the RPI for the Huskies, who finish the regular season Saturday at Seton Hall.

Troy Murphy had 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting for the Fighting Irish (19-7, 11-4), who had already clinched first place in the Big East West Division. Notre Dame, which entered the game shooting 47.3 percent from the field, finished 22-for-56 against Connecticut (39.3 percent).

Notre Dame got within 55-50 on a free throw by Murphy with 7:50 left, a play that was the fourth foul against Edmund Saunders, who covered him most of the game.

The Huskies responded with a 7-0 run that featured a hook shot and a rebound dunk of a missed free throw by Johnnie Selvie. A 3-pointer by Matt Carroll had the Fighting Irish within 64-53 with 4:46 left, but the Huskies scored the nine points to take their biggest lead, 73-53 on a tip-in by Wane with 1:57 left.

Selvie finished with 12 points, while Taliek Brown added 11 for the Huskies and Albert Mouring had 10.

Ryan Humphrey had 15 points for Notre Dame, which was outrebounded 44-29.