Feb. 10, 2001
Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy is rounding into top form as he attempts to lead the Irish to a seventh straight Big East win on Sunday against West Virginia.
As 20th-ranked Notre Dame (15-5, 7-2 Big East) has worked its way from perennial league doormat to contender for this year’s West Division regular-season championship, All-America power forward and team co-captain Murphy has taken the burden of team leadership seriously this season.
“It’s been my responsibility to get the guys going,” said Murphy, who is the Big East’s top scorer and third in the nation at 23.7 points per game. “I’ve tried to do that.”
The Irish, who have won six straight conference games, began 2001 sluggishly, losing three of four contest before embarking on its current run.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey says Murphy has added a vocal presence to his already solid work ethic.
“We’ve grown up (and) a lot of that is Troy and his demeanor and keeping us together.” said Brey of Murphy, who has averaged 24.5 points a game during the streak, including two 34-point nights.
The Irish have not lost since dropping an 82-71 non-conference decision at Kentucky on Jan. 13, and their current six-game league win streak is the longest in school history since the Irish joined the league in 1995-96.
Notre Dame’s defense has been a major key during the run, as it is allowing just 65.0 points over the streak.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series with West Virginia 14-7 and has won five of the last six games played, including three straight. Since joining the conference, the Irish are 1-2 at WVU Coliseum – their lone win was a 74-72 decision during the 1996-97 campaign.
In the first regular-season meeting between the Irish and Mountaineers, Notre Dame defeated West Virginia 78-61 at the Joyce Center on Jan. 21. The game was marred by the actions of West Virginia center Chris Moss, who was ejected from that game and then spit on a Notre Dame cheerleader as Notre Dame students heckled him as he left the court.
Moss took a voluntary leave of absence after the incident, has been back with the team for two games since, but has seen limited action.
“Chris hasn’t played that much (since his return),” Mountaineers senior Calvin Bowman said. “We can’t really expect him to play that many minutes yet, but I look forward to him being back in the starting lineup.”
The Mountaineers (13-7, 4-5) snapped their two-game losing streak on Thursday night at home with a 69-68 victory over Pittsburgh.
Timmy Lyles scored 17 points, including the game-winner at the buzzer, to overcome what has been a horrible shooting stretch.
Against Georgetown in West Virginia’s previous game, he’d gone 1-for-12 from the floor. Over his last eight games he’d hit just 18-of-85, and was shooting at an overall 26.0 percentage coming into the game.