Jan. 19, 2013

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• Notre Dame improved to 15-3 overall (12-1 at home) and 3-2 in BIG EAST play this season
• Tonight was the 32nd meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Rutgers … the Irish lead the series 19-13 … Notre Dame has won eight of the last 10 meetings … the Fighting Irish have won their last nine home showdowns against the Scarlet Knights
• Notre Dame was 15-for-17 from the free throw line … the 88.2% is a season-best mark for the Irish … it was the fourth time this season (second straight game) that the Irish shot 80% or above from the charity stripe
• Rutgers held a 31-26 rebound advantage … the Irish are 3-3 this season when being outrebounded
• Notre Dame led 38-31 at halftime … the Irish are 14-1 this season when leading at the intermission
• The Fighting Irish had 19 assists on their 24 made field goals
• Eric Atkins (Jr./G), Pat Connaughton (So./G), Jack Cooley (Sr./F), Jerian Grant (Jr./G) and Scott Martin (GS/G) started tonight’s contest … the Irish are 13-3 this season with that starting lineup and 24-7 over the past two campaigns … Atkins, Connaughton and Cooley have started all 18 games this season, while Grant and Martin have 17 starts each
• Notre Dame is 47-2 in its last 49 home games
• During the first timeout a check was presented to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in the amount of $10,033 to help with relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Sandy … a special online auction was held from Jan. 7-18 on Notre Dame’s official athletic web site UND.com and fans had the opportunity to bid on several unique items with the proceeds going to help with the relief efforts … Governor Christie is a longtime friend of Irish head coach Mike Brey
• A three-pointer from Pat Connaughton in the first half upped Notre Dame’s streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 460

Eric Atkins (Jr./G)

• Scored in double-figures (14 points) for the 13th time this season and for the 41st time of his career … has a career-best six-game double-figure scoring streak

Pat Connaughton (So./G-F)

• Reached double-figures in points (17) for the eighth time this season and for the 17th time in his career
• Was 4-for-6 from three-point range … the four treys were a season-high total

Jack Cooley (Sr./F)

• Posted his team-best 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds … has 24 career double-doubles
• Scored in double-figures for a team-best 17th time this season and for the 40th time in his career … he has reached double-figures in points in 13 straight games, which is a career-best streak and a team-best streak this season

Jerian Grant (Jr./G)

• Tied a career-high total with 10 assists … his other 10-assist effort came earlier this season versus Chicago State (Nov. 26)
• Was 2-for-2 from the free throw line … has made his last 18 free throw attempts

Tom Knight (Sr./F)

• Scored six points, which matched a season-high total that he also achieved on Tuesday at St. John’s