Feb. 19, 2014
Box Score | Notre Dame at Miami Box Score
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Rion Brown scored 21 points to lead Miami to a 71-64 victory over Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
The Hurricanes (13-13, 4-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) built a 15-point lead early in the second half and withstood a late Irish rally in the final 5 minutes.
Notre Dame cut Miami’s lead to 65-64 on Demetrius Jackson’s layup with 22 seconds remaining.
Brown’s two free throws with 21 seconds left put Miami ahead 67-64. Then Raphael Akpejiori added two free throws after he was fouled rebounding a Jackson miss.
Garrius Adams scored 14 points and Davon Reed finished with 12 points for the Hurricanes.
Manu Lecomte’s driving jumper with 57 seconds remaining put Miami ahead 63-56 but the Irish got within 63-62 after consecutive 3-pointers by Pat Connaughton and Steve Vasturia.
Connaughton scored 22 points and made 6 of 7 3-pointers for Notre Dame (14-13, 5-9).
Brown’s 3-pointer with 15:42 remaining in the second half extended a 12-point Miami lead at halftime to 49-34.
The Hurricanes never trailed after a 13-0 run midway through the first half. Adams’ jumper capped the surge and gave Miami a 24-10 lead. Tom Knight’s 3-pointer ended a field-goal scoring drought of 5:25 for the Irish and cut Miami’s lead to 25-14. Erik Swoope’s jumper with 59 seconds left gave the Hurricanes their largest lead of the first half at 38-23.
Miami shot 62 percent from the field in the first half.
The game was Miami’s first conference win at home this season after six previous losses.
Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Miami 71, Notre Dame 64
February 19, 2014
BankUnited Center – Coral Gables, Fla.
– This was the 16th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Miami and the first since a 72-62 Fighting Irish victory on Jan. 28, 2004, at Notre Dame … the series is tied 8-8 … this was Notre Dame’s first trip to Miami since Feb. 23, 2002 (a 90-77 Irish victory) … the Fighting Irish are 4-4 all-time at Miami … Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey is 2-1 against the Hurricanes.
– Senior point guard Eric Atkins started the 100th game of his Notre Dame career … he is just the ninth player in Fighting Irish history to record 100 starts … Atkins has started 92 straight contests.
– Notre Dame made a season-high 13 three-pointers (on 28 attempts) … it was the third time this season (first time in an ACC contest) that the Irish made 10 or more treys in a game.
– Eric Atkins (Sr./G), Pat Connaughton (Jr./G), Steve Vasturia (Fr./G), Zach Auguste (So./F) and Garrick Sherman (Sr./C) started tonight’s contest … it was the second straight game and sixth time overall this season Notre Dame has used this starting five … Notre Dame is 2-4 this season with this starting lineup … Atkins, Connaughton and Sherman have started all 27 games this season … it was the 11th start of the season for Auguste and the seventh for Vasturia.
– Notre Dame only committed six turnovers … it marked the 13th time this season (seventh time in ACC play) that the Irish had fewer than 10 turnovers in a game … Notre Dame has only turned the ball over 13 times in the last two games.
– The Fighting Irish had season-low totals for free throws made (3) and free throw attempts (6).
– Notre Dame trailed 38-26 at halftime … the Irish are 3-12 this season when behind at the intermission.
– The Fighting Irish are 1-6 this season when wearing blue uniforms.
– A three-pointer from Pat Connaughton in the first half upped Notre Dame’s streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 504.
Pat Connaughton (Jr./G-F)
– Scored a season-high and game-high 22 points … it was his fourth 20-plus point game this season (second in ACC play) … he has reached the 20-point mark eight times in his career.
– Reached double-figures in points for the third straight game and the team-best 21st time this season (44th time of his career) … has netted double-figures in 11 of 14 ACC games.
– Made a season-high six three-pointers (on seven attempts) … the six treys tied the most for an Irish player this season (Atkins 6 vs. Canisius).
– Played all 40 minutes for the second straight game … it marked the eighth time this season (sixth time in ACC play) that he’s played every minute of a contest … he is averaging 43.0 minutes per game over the last three contests.
– Tied a career-high mark for steals with three … also compiled four assists and two blocked shots.
Demetrius Jackson (Fr./G)
– Scored a career-high 17 points … his previous career-high was 13 points on two occasions (Santa Clara & Virginia Tech).
– Netted double-figures for the seventh time this season and the third time in ACC play.
– Matched a career-high mark of three three-pointers (on five attempts).
– Dished out a career-high five assists … the five assists were a team-high total and they were tied for game-high honors … it’s the first time this season that he’s led the Irish in assists.