Feb. 2, 2001
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23/NR NOTRE DAME Fighting Irish (13-5, 5-2)
at PITTSBURGH Panthers (12-7, 4-4)
Date: Saturday, February 3, 2001
Place: Fitzgerald Field House (6,798)
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, Calif., 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 — Bob Picozzi (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (color). WMWB in South Bend and Fox Sports Pittsburgh.
IRISH ITEMS FOR THE PITTSBURGH GAME:
Notre Dame (13-5, 5-2) returns to action for the first time in a week at Pittsburgh (12-7, 4-4) tonight as the 23rd-ranked Irish look to extend its four-game BIG EAST win streak. Notre Dame’s four consecutive league victories are the most by an Irish team since becoming a a member of the BIG EAST in 1995-96.
Tonight’s matchup is the second regular-season meeting between the two West Divisional teams. Head coach Mike Brey’s squad was victorious in the first matchup as the Irish earned a 74-58 victory at the Joyce Center on January 16. That win was the initial victory for Notre Dame in the current four-game win streak.
This is the second of four road games in five contests for Brey’s team. Following this evening’s matchup, the Irish return home to the Joyce Center on Mon., Feb. 5 for a 7:00 p.m. matchup with St. John’s and then play back-to-back road games at West Virginia (Sun., Feb. 11) and Rutgers (Wed., Feb. 14).
Notre Dame, which has not lost since suffering an 82-71 setback at Kentucky on Jan. 13, is three games above the .500 mark in BIG EAST play for the first time in school history.
In the first meeting between the two teams, Notre Dame jumped out early on the Panthers as the Irish owned a 22-point halftime advantage. Troy Murphy led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, while Martin Ingelsby and David Graves finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Pittsburgh game marked the inaugural outing with Notre Dame’s new starting lineup of Murphy, Ryan Humphrey, Harold Swanagan, Matt Carroll and Ingelsby. The current starting lineup of these five players has contributed to Notre Dame’s four-game win streak.
Tonight’s game will be the 41st meeting between the two schools with Notre Dame holding a 21-19 advantage in the series. This will be the 10th time the Irish and Panthers have played each other since Notre Dame joined the BIG EAST. Notre Dame holds a slim 5-4 lead in the nine-game conference series. The two teams split last year during the regular season as both squads won on their home floors. Notre Dame dropped a 72-66 decision at Fitzgerald Field House last season after jumping out to a 35-26 halftime advantage.
Notre Dame is ranked 23rd in the Associated Press ranking and is unranked in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. The Irish return to the top 25 ranking of the AP Poll after a two-week hiatus. Notre Dame was ranked 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 GEORGETOWN:
Notre Dame was forced to play the final 4:28 without the services of All-American Troy Murphy, who fouled out. The Irish responded to the challenge with a 10-0 run that gave Notre Dame its first-ever four-game win streak in the BIG EAST. The Irish won at the MCU Center for the second straight year with the 78-71 victory.
Ryan Humphrey recorded his seventh double-double of the season as he scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Humphrey led five Notre Dame players in double figures. Murphy netted 16 points and grabbed four rebounds before fouling out, while David Graves added 15 points, Harold Swanagan a season-high 11 points and Matt Carroll 16 points and six assists.
Notre Dame trailed six at intermission and fell behind by as many as nine (41-32) with 18:30 remaining in the contest. The Hoyas led by seven (57-50) with 7:55 to go in the game before a 9-2 run tied the game at 59-59 on Martin Ingelsby’s three-pointer. The Irish led for the first time in the game on Humphrey’s two free throws at the 3:59 mark and never relinquished the lead after that point.
Notre Dame was 23-28 from the charity stripe for the game with Swanagan hitting all seven of his free-throw attempts in the second half. As a team, the Irish were 17-21 from the free-throw line in the final four minutes of the contest.
The Irish were the first team all season to outrebound the Hoyas as they owned a 38-37 advantage on the boards.
POLL POSITION:
Notre Dame is ranked 23rd in the Associated Press Poll after falling out for two weeks and is unranked in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. The Irish were ranked in the 10 previous 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 112-57 for a .663 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 .663 winning percentage among Division I coaches with five years as a head coach stands second only to Tom Izzo of Michigan State (.731). 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 is the first Notre Dame head coach to win 13 games in his first 18 games as the Irish head coach. The last Notre Dame squad to win 13 or more games in its first 18 contests was the 1988-89 team coached by Digger Phelps who had a 14-4 record and finished the season 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 Indianpolis, 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. PITTSBURGH:
Tonight’s game marks the 41st meeting between the two teams with Notre Dame holding a 21-19 advantage in the series that was first started during the 1926-27 campaign. Since the Irish joined the BIG EAST Conference in 1995-96, the two teams have played each other nine times with Notre Dame winning on five occasions. The two teams split last year with each winning on its home floor. The Irish won the first regular-season meeting 74-58 on Jan. 16 at the Joyce Center.
RECAP OF PITTBURGH – Part I:
Notre Dame jumped out early on the Panthers and never looked back as the Irish won its second BIG EAST home game of the campaign with a 74-58 victory over Pittsburgh. The Irish led from start to finish in the contest as they built a 22-point halftime lead. Pittsburgh pulled to within 10 points midway through the second half, but the Panthers could never cut the deficit to under double digits.
Notre Dame held Pittsburgh to just 18 first-half points, the fewest points allowed by the Irish in any half this season. The Panthers shot just 21.9% from the field in the first 20 minutes as the Irish were in command 40-18.
Troy Murphy led all scorers in the contest with a game-high 23 points, while Martin Ingelsby and David Graves were the other two Irish players in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Graves, who suffered a sprained left ankle in the Kentucky game, did not start marking the first time in 31 games that he was not in the Irish starting lineup. Harold Swanagan earned the start for the Irish, and in making his second starting appearance of the season, had season-highs of seven points and 10 rebounds.
Notre Dame was outrebounded 45-40 in the contest marking just the second time in nine games that the Irish were outrebounded by their opponent.
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 four consecutive BIG EAST wins against Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse and Georgetown marks the first time since the Irish joined the league in 1995-96 that they have posted four straight wins over league foes. Notre Dame also is above the .500 mark for the first time since becoming a league member.
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 the third time this season 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.
THE SHOOTING BLUES:
Since shooting 60.8 percent from the field against Rutgers on Feb. 6, the Irish have shot under 45.0 percent in each of its last six games and has been under 40.0 percent in four of the last six contests. Since that Rutgers contest, Notre Dame has connected 145 of its 365 attempts for a 39.7 percent shooting accuracy. The Irish shot a season-low 35.6 percent (26-73) against Seton Hall.
ORANGEMEN FIRST TOP 10 VICTIM AT JOYCE CENTER SINCE 1994:
Notre Dame had two wins against top 10 opponents during the 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’:
Notre Dame’s recent three-game sweep of Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Syracuse extended its home win streak to eight games. The Irish now, 10-2 at home, have four 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 81.3 percent of its games at the Joyce Center.
PRODUCTIVE FRONTLINE SHOWS SCORING AND REBOUNDING VERSATILITY I:
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 17 of 18 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 13 and seven games, respectively, while Humphrey has led the Irish in scoring in two games and in rebounding on nine occasions.
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 23.1 points and is second in the rebounding column with 9.4 rebounds per game, while Humphrey is second in scoring (15.0 ppg.) and leads the team with a 9.6 rebounding average. Graves is third in scoring at 14.6 points per game. The trio is responsible for 64.0 percent of the team’s offensive scoring (948 of 1481 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 last Saturday 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 87 (61.2 percent) of Notre Dame’s 142 three-point field goals and has attempted 206 (57.2 percent) of the team’s 360 shots from beyond the arc. Carroll is shooting 45.3 from three-point range, while Graves has made 39.6 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
IRONMAN:
Martin Inglesby leads the team in minutes played this season as he is averging 36.8 minutes per game. He played the entire 40 minutes in Notre Dame’s first three BIG EAST games and is averaging 38.9 minutes in seven league outings. Inglesby has gone the distance for the Irish in three other games this season – Vanderbilt, Miami (Ohio) and Georgetown.
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 82.3 points per game and outscoring its opponents by 12.7 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 395-116 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 121 blocks as 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 50, while Troy Murphy is second with 40.
GRAVES GROOVIN’ OFF THE BENCH:
David Graves has come off the bench in Notre Dame’s last four games and has proven to be a very effective player in his new role. Graves, who has missed just six starts in 85 career games, had been a starter in 31 consecutive games before having that streak snapped against Pittsburgh on Jan 16. In the last four games, he has averaged 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds coming off the bench.
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 1,121 points in 85 career games for a 13.2 career scoring average heading into this afternoon’s game and currently ranks 30th 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 (1,773 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 2,894 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 four games versus Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse and Georgetown. Swanagan will be in the starting lineup this evening against Pittsburgh for the fifth straight game (and sixth time this season). In the last four games, he has averaged 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds. 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 last Saturday, Swanagan finished with a season-best 11 points, six rebounds and two assists.
MURPHY GETS 100TH BLOCK:
Troy Murphy blocked his 100th career shot against Long Island on Fri., Dec. 29 and currently is second on the Notre Dame all-time career shot-blocking list with 116. LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92) is the Irish all-time leader in this category with 200.
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 817 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 459 career assists, good for fifth on the all-time career assist list. Ingelsby passed Irish great John Paxson (1979-83) who finished his career with 411 assists. Heading into tonight’s game, he needs eight to move ahead of Rich Branning and into fourth on the career assist list. Branning, who played for the Irish from 1976-80 finished with 466 assists. Ingelsby owns a 4.14 assist average in 111 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.
DOUBLE-TAKE FOR HUMPHREY:
Just 18 games into his Notre Dame career, Ryan Humphrey has already posted seven double-doubles in an Irish uniform. His most recent came against Kentucky on Jan. 13 as he scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He has registered double-doubles in six of the last 11 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 17 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 25 games during his career and scored 10-plus points on 51 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 three games this season. 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 eight times during his career, which includes a 33-point effort against Vanderbilt during the 1999-2000 campaign.
MURPHY DOUBLE-DOUBLES REACHES TO EIGHT:
Troy Murphy registered his eighth double-double of the season, and 40th of his career against Syracuse on Jan. 23 when scored 34 points and grabbed 16 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) and Kentucky (14 points, 11 rebounds). He has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 41 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 76.7 percent from the charity stripe in the last six games (138-180). 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 over Georgetown a week ago, 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). Heading into the Tennessee Tech game on Dec. 17, Notre Dame had converted 75.3 percent of its free-throw chances, but that percentage has dropped to 68.8 percent.
STREAKING ALONG:
Troy Murphy’s 16 points against Georgetown extended his streak of double figure scoring games to 69. The junior forward has netted double figures in 81 of 82 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 four of Notre Dame’s 18 games this season. In addition to his 34 points against Syracuse, 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 47 times in 82 career games.
IRISH THREE-POINTERS EXTEND TO 68 STRAIGHT GAMES:
Notre Dame has had at least one three-pointer in 68 consecutive games, a mark that dates back to the 1998-99 campaign. 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 48 straight games. The last time he failed to make a three-pointer was against Maryland on Nov. 26, 1999. In 81 career games, he has had at least one three-point field goal in all but 10 games.
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 18 games this season, he leads the team in minutes played (36.8) and is averaging 7.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists.
DISHING IT OUT:
Martin Ingelsby leads the Irish with 126 assists. Most impressive is the fact that he has committed just 33 turnovers in 18 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. For the season, Ingelsby is averaging 7.0 assists per game, which ranks him ninth nationally in that category. He has played a total of 663 of a possible 720 minutes and is averaging a turnover every 20.1 minutes and just 1.83 turnovers per game. Ingelsby’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.82 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 31st time in his career (and 13th time this season) against Syracuse as he scored 13 points. He is shooting 47.9 (79-165) percent from the field, 45.3 (43-95) from three-point range and 79.3 (23-29) from the charity stripe. Even more impressive is that he is second in the assist column with 81 (4.5 per game).
UNSELFISH IRISH:
The most telling statistic in Notre Dame’s 18 games – the 358 assists (19.9 per game). Notre Dame has made a total of 516 field goals which translates into an assist for every 1.44 baskets. As a team, the Irish have committed 267 turnovers, resulting in a 1.34 assist-to-turnover ratio and a turnover every 2.70 minutes. Last season, Notre Dame had more turnovers (656) than assists (643).
IRISH BACKCOURT – STEADY AS THEY GO :
Notre Dame’s backcourt duo of Martin Ingelsby and Matt Carroll has posted impressive numbers this season with their consistency. When averaging the statistics of the two players, the tandem is shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 45.0 percent from three-point range, while averaging 10.1 points per game. They also have 207 of Notre Dame’s 358 assists and have committed just 69 turnovers overall for a 3.00 assist-to-turnover ratio.
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 7.89 three-pointers (142-360) in 18 games. David Graves leads the way with 44, while Matt Carroll has made 43 and Martin Ingelsby 29. 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 415 points he has scored in in his first 18 games have elevated him to sixth on the scoring list with 1,773 career points. Against West Virginia, Murphy passed Kelly Tripuka (1977-81), another N.J. native out of Essex Fells, who scored 1,719 points during his career. He now needs 48 points to move into fifth on the all-time scoring list occupied by Tom Hawkins (1956-59) who finished his career with 1,820 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 39 previous 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 second with 40 career double-doubles. He has scored in double figures in 81 of 82 career games he has played and has registered double figures in 69 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.