Jan. 8, 2001

Notre Dame at Seton Hall Box Score

By JIM O’CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Seton Hall capped a rough 48 hours with its biggest win of the season.

The 15th-ranked Pirates overcame the loss of suspended freshman star Eddie Griffin to beat No. 25 Notre Dame 78-76 Monday night, ending a two-day stretch that included a loss to Georgetown and the locker room fight that cost them Griffin for one game.

“Certainly it’s been a trying few days for all of us and the program,” Seton Hall coach Tommy Amaker said. “To get a victory is great for our kids who stepped up for us and gave us effort, played with emotion and played hard against a really good Notre Dame team.”

Darius Lane bounced back from the worst game of his career to lead the Pirates (11-3, 2-1 Big East) with 22 points, while freshman point guard Andre Barrett had a career-high 20 points.

Seton Hall dressed just nine players dressed because Griffin and fellow forward Kevin Wilkins were suspended for one game following the incident in the locker room Saturday at Georgetown.

“It was no big thing, just an exchange of words. These things happen among teammates,” said Griffin, who sat on the bench during the game. “We had a big meeting, everybody talked about their feelings and I think everybody is on the same page now. The thing that happened was not really that big a thing. It was just something that happened.”

Griffin, who averages 19.6 points and 13.2 rebounds, had a double-double in all but one game in his brief career and it seemed Seton Hall would be doomed on the boards against Notre Dame (9-4, 1-2) without him.

The Fighting Irish did finish with a 56-37 rebound advantage and everyone over 6-foot-6 on Seton Hall played the second half in foul trouble, but the Pirates hung on behind Barrett and Lane, who averages 19.6 points but had just five on 1-for-15 shooting against Georgetown.

“It was tough to put it aside but we tried to keep our heads on the game,” Barrett said. “I’m the point guard on this team and I feel it’s up to me to step up and be the leader even though I’m only a freshman.”

Barrett’s 3-pointer with 3:11 left gave Seton Hall the lead for good at 75-73. It was the eighth lead change in a span of 7:40.

After each team came up empty in three consecutive possessions, Barrett made a huge play on the defensive end. Notre Dame point guard Martin Inglesby was bringing the ball up court when Barrett drew an offensive foul at midcourt with 30 seconds left.

“I don’t think we’ve had a bigger basket this year than his 3,” Amaker said of Barrett. “He’s got guts and daring.”

Ty Shine, the player who was punched by Griffin and was wearing a small bandage under his right eye, then broke loose on the inbounds and laid it in for a 77-73 lead with 27 seconds left. Shine made a bad play five seconds later when he fouled Matt Carroll while he was taking a 3-pointer.

Carroll made the three free throws to bring the Irish within 77-76.

Barrett was fouled with 15 seconds left and made the first of two free throws and Notre Dame missed three shots on its next possession before the ball went out of bounds with 1.7 seconds left.

Notre Dame’s final chance ended when David Graves’ 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Shine was not in the locker room after the game.

Troy Murphy, who was coming off a career-high 37 points against Rutgers, had 25 points on 9-for-25 shooting and a career-high 20 rebounds. Carroll had 13 points and Ryan Humphrey had seven points and 15 rebounds for the Irish, who had won five of their last six.

Seton Hall scored the game’s first seven points and led 46-38 at halftime.

“We knew about the suspensions and we knew they were going to do one of two things, come out and play hard or cave in,” Murphy said. “They came out and played hard and together and I’m not sure we were prepared for that.”

Barrett, who was averaging 11.4 points, was 7-for-10 from the field, including 3-for-6 on 3s, while Lane was 8-for-18, including 5-for-11 from beyond the arc.

The win was the first in four games against ranked opponents this season for Seton Hall.

“I knew I wasn’t going to have another game like Georgetown and at the end my shot was finally falling,” Lane said. “People didn’t think we could beat this team without Eddie but we played together and contained them on the perimeter. I think we’ve put our problems in the past.”

Murphy’s 20-20 was the seventh in Big East history and the first since Chris McNeal of Pittsburgh had 27 points and 20 rebounds against Boston College on March 3, 1992.

“Seton Hall was very ready to play and I thought they would be given what they went through the last 48 hours,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “I thought they played very emotionally and got us in a hole but we fought our way back and certainly gave ourselves chances to win.”