Mike Brey recorded his 400th career win.

Notre Dame To Battle Binghamton In Season Opener

Nov. 13, 2014

Notre Dame Game Notes Get Acrobat Reader

Game 1
Binghamton (0-0)
vs.
Notre Dame (0-0)

Friday, Nov. 14, 2014
9 p.m. (ET)
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center (9,149)
Notre Dame, Ind.

TV/INTERNET
ESPN3
Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play)
Sean Harrington (analyst)

RADIO
Broadcast on WatchND (free)
Sirius 108/XM 194
Check affiliates on Pg. 4 of notes packet
Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
Torrian Jones (analyst)

LIVE STATS

NOTRE DAME BEGINS SEASON FRIDAY AGAINST BINGHAMTON
– Notre Dame will open its 2014-15 campaign Friday with its first-ever matchup with Binghamton. The game is slated for 9 p.m. (ET) inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
– Friday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Wayne Randazzo (play-by-play) and Sean Harrington (analyst) calling the action.
– A free audio broadcast will be available on WatchND.tv. Jack Nolan will handle play-by-play duties, while Jordan Cornette will serve as the analyst. The contest also is available on Sirius 108 and XM 194.

TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT
– Notre Dame’s showdowns with Binghamton on Friday and Navy on Sunday are part of the 2014 Tip-Off Tournament. The Fighting Irish are in the Naismith Bracket and they will face Massachusetts and Providence Nov. 22 and 23, respectively, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

BUSY BEGINNING FOR THE FIGHTING IRISH
– Friday’s season opener against Binghamton will be the first of three games in a six-day span for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame will play host to Navy on Sunday (2 p.m.) and Coppin State on Wednesday (7 p.m.).
– Notre Dame will play 11 games in the first 30 days of the season. That stretch concludes Dec. 13 with the ACC opener against Florida State.

IRISH SUCCESSFUL IN SEASON OPENERS
– Notre Dame owns an all-time record of 91-18 (.835) in season openers and has won all 14 openers under head coach Mike Brey. The last time Notre Dame lost a season opener was against Miami (Ohio) (76-65) on November 13, 1998.
– Since the opening of Purcell Pavilion (formerly the Joyce Center), Notre Dame teams are 40-6 (.870) in season openers at home. This is the 15th straight season Notre Dame has opened a season at home.
– Notre Dame topped Miami (Ohio), 74-62, at Purcell Pavilion in last season’s opener.

NOVEMBERS TO REMEMBER
– Notre Dame is 50-1 at home in the month of November under head coach Mike Brey.
– The only loss during that stretch was last season’s 83-70 setback to Indiana State.

IRISH AGAINST THE AMERICA EAST
– Notre Dame is 12-0 all-time against teams currently in the America East Conference. Friday’s showdown with Binghamton will be Notre Dame’s first encounter with an America East member since an 87-78 win over Maine on Dec. 8, 2011.
– Playing an America East foe will be nothing new for Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey. Brey spent five seasons at Delaware (1995-2000) while the Blue Hens were part of the America East Conference. Binghamton was not in the America East during Brey’s tenure at Delaware.

CONNAUGHTON ON THE CUSP OF 1,000 CAREER POINTS
– Senior Pat Connaughton needs just 10 points to become the 56th member of Notre Dame’s 1,000-point club. He has netted 990 points in 101 career games (9.8 ppg.).
– Connaughton would become the second current Fighting Irish player with at least 1,000 career points. Senior Jerian Grant has tallied 1,111 points in an Irish uniform.

BREY GETS 300TH WIN AT NOTRE DAME, ONE SHY OF 400TH CAREER VICTORY
– Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey is just one victory shy of recording his 400th career win as a college head coach. He has registered a 399-211 (.654) record in 19 seasons at Delaware and Notre Dame.
– Notre Dame’s victory over Georgia Tech on Feb. 26, 2014, was Brey’s 300th win at Notre Dame. Brey has compiled a 300-159 (.654) record in his 14 seasons in South Bend. He is one of 16 active head coaches to have 300 or more Division I victories at their current institution.
– Only two other Notre Dame head coaches have reached the 300-win milestone. Digger Phelps led the Fighting Irish to a 393-197 record from 1971-91. George Keogan notched a 327-97 mark from 1923-43.

PRESEASON PLAY
– Notre Dame topped Minnesota Duluth (88-71) and Lewis (82-59) in exhibition play.
Jerian Grant averaged a team-best 21.0 points per game. Grant netted 30 points in the preseason finale versus Lewis. He was 7-of-10 from three-point range against the Flyers. Grant also led the Irish in assists (11) over the course of the two games.
– Three other Fighting Irish players averaged double-figures in points in the two contests: Demetrius Jackson (19.5), Zach Auguste (15.5) and Pat Connaughton (12.0). Connaughton had a team-high 17 rebounds, while Auguste had 16.
– Notre Dame shot 50.0% (56-112) from the field and 44.9% (22-49) from three-point range.
– The Irish had 33 assists and 18 turnovers (1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio).

CAPTAIN CONNAUGHTON
– Senior guard/forward Pat Connaughton has been named captain for the 2014-15 season. Connaughton served as one of four captains for the Irish a year ago and becomes the 22nd different Notre Dame men’s basketball player to serve as a captain in multiple seasons.
– Since the 1985-86 campaign, only four other players have served as lone captains for their Irish teams– Ken Barlow (1985-86), Tim Singleton (1990-91), Ryan Hoover (1995-96) and Rob Kurz (2007-08).

IRONMAN
Pat Connaughton has never missed a game during his Fighting Irish career. He has played in all 101 contests, including 85 starts. Connaughton has started 82 consecutive games.
– Connaughton never left the court in eight games last season (six times in ACC play).
– In ACC regular-season contests, Connaughton ranked third in minutes played per game (39.00). On the season, he ranked 17th nationally in minutes played per game (37:11).

ACC HONORS
– The Fighting Irish were picked to finish seventh in the ACC for the 2014-15 season, according to a vote of media in attendance at the league’s annual “Operation Basketball.” Notre Dame senior guard Jerian Grant was selected to the Preseason All-ACC Team for the second consecutive year.

A BUSY INGELSBY HOUSEHOLD
– Notre Dame assistant men’s basketball coach Martin Ingelsby and his wife Colleen welcomed the third addition to their family on Monday, Nov. 10 with the arrival of a son, Jack Fitzgerald Ingelsby. He joins four-year-old twins Will and Kate.

110 YEARS OF FIGHTING IRISH BASKETBALL
– The 2014-15 campaign marks the 110th season of basketball at the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame teams have posted an all-time record of 1763-966 for a .648 winning percentage.

TOM HAWKINS TO BE INDUCTED INTO NOTRE DAME RING OF HONOR
– Nearly 56 years have passed since Tom Hawkins played his final collegiate men’s basketball game for the University of Notre Dame, yet the indelible mark he left on the program remains intact today. While dozens of players have donned an Irish uniform since Hawkins last took the court, none have been able to duplicate his rebounding as he remains the career leader in that category.
– Hawkins, whose 1,318 career rebounds rank currently as the oldest record in the 109-year annals of Fighting Irish men’s basketball, will become the seventh inductee into the Notre Dame Basketball Ring of Honor on Jan. 17, 2015, at halftime of the Notre Dame-Miami men’s basketball game. He will follow six former players–Austin Carr (2011), Adrian Dantley (2012), Skylar Diggins (2013), Luke Harangody (2010) and Ruth Riley (2010)–and former men’s head coach Richard “Digger” Phelps (2014) into the school’s Ring of Honor.

IRISH LOOK TO REBOUND AFTER TOUGH 2013-14 CAMPAIGN
– Notre Dame posted a 15-17 record last season and finished tied for 11th in the ACC standings with a 6-12 league mark. Notre Dame’s season came to an end with an 81-69 setback to Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
– The 17 losses were the most ever for an Irish team under head coach Mike Brey. Previous to the 2013-14 campaign, the most losses under Brey had been 15 during the 2008-09 season when that squad finished with a 22-15 mark.
– The six wins and 12 setbacks in ACC regular-season play were the fewest wins and most conference losses for a Notre Dame squad under Brey. In 13 seasons coaching in the BIG EAST, Brey’s Irish teams only had two losing seasons — 2005-06 (6-10) and 2008-09 (8-10).
– The 17 overall losses were the most for the Fighting Irish since the 1995-96 campaign (9-18).

FIGHTING IRISH IN ITALY
– In early August, the Fighting Irish squad traveled to Italy for a 10-day, four-game foreign tour. Notre Dame posted a 4-0 record. The Irish visited Rome, Perugia, Pesaro, Venice and Como during the trip.
– It was the program’s first foreign tour since 2008 when the Irish ventured to Ireland for 13 days.

GRANT RETURNS
– Senior guard Jerian Grant returns to the Fighting Irish lineup after missing the final 20 games of the 2013-14 season. Grant led Notre Dame in scoring (19.0 ppg.) and assists (6.2 apg.) through the first 12 games of last season.
– Grant has 1,111 points (13.7 ppg.), 228 rebounds (2.8 rpg.) and 437 assists (5.4 apg.) in 81 games (79 starts) during his Notre Dame career.

PAT AN ALL-AROUND PERFORMER
– In ACC play last season, Pat Connaughton ranked seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.46), 10th in rebounding (7.1) and 14th in scoring (13.9).
– Connaughton’s 41 three-pointers in ACC games ranked fifth in the league.
– Connaughton pulled down 10 or more rebounds in seven games during the season (four ACC contests) and had five double-doubles.
– Connaughton netted a season-high 22 points at Miami (Feb. 19). He was 6-of-7 from three-point range against the Hurricanes. It was his fourth game of the season (second in ACC play) with 20-plus points.
– In the loss at North Carolina in the regular-season finale, he had 17 points and 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.
– Connaughton has 990 points (9.8 ppg.), 541 rebounds (5.4 rpg.) and 200 assists (2.0 apg.) in 101 career games (85 starts).

CONNAUGHTON DRAFTED BY ORIOLES
– The Baltimore Orioles selected Irish swingman Pat Connaughton in the fourth round of June’s Major League Baseball Draft. He was the 121st pick overall.
– Connaughton spent part of June and July pitching for the Aberdeen IronBirds, the Class A Orioles’ affiliate.
– Connaughton finished his Fighting Irish baseball career last spring. He posted a 3.03 ERA and had an 11-11 record on the mound during his three seasons. He fanned 105 batters in 154.2 innings pitched.

FIGHTING IRISH TO HOST SPARTANS IN ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE
– Notre Dame will play host to Michigan State Dec. 3 in the 16th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
– The Notre Dame-Michigan State contest will mark the 95th meeting between the two Midwest schools, but the first since March 18, 1979, when the Spartans downed the Irish 80-68 in the Mideast Regional final in Indianapolis, Ind., en route to the national championship. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 59-35. Michigan State last played at Notre Dame on Feb. 5, 1975, when the Spartans defeated the Irish 76-73.
– Notre Dame fell at Iowa, 98-93, last season in its inaugural appearance in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

ANOTHER CROSSROADS CLASSIC CLASH
– Notre Dame will battle Big Ten rival Purdue in the fourth annual Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The game between the Irish and the Boilermakers will be the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 20. Butler and Indiana will square off in the first contest.
– The Fighting Irish are 2-1 in their three previous Crossroads Classic showdowns. Notre Dame topped Indiana, 79-72, last season and the Irish downed Purdue, 81-68, in 2012. Notre Dame fell to Indiana, 69-58, in the inaugural event in 2011.

NOTRE DAME FIRST AGAIN IN GRADUATION RATE SUCCESS
– The University of Notre Dame once again claims the 2014 national championship for graduating student-athletes in all sports–in the process posting the top NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) figure (99) for its student-athletes for the eighth straight year.
– The GSR number for all Notre Dame student-athletes rates the Irish first among the football-playing institutions in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A). The 2014 NCAA figures are based on entering classes from 2004 through 2007.
– Twenty-one of Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s athletic programs posted GSR numbers that rank them best in the nation within their sports (including 20 perfect 100 scores)– and 11 produced federal graduation rates that led all NCAA FBS institutions (including eight perfect 100 scores). Men’s basketball at 100 tied for first with 14 other schools.
– Five Irish women’s programs had perfect 100 federal rates ranking them first within their sports among the NCAA FBS subset. Six Irish men’s programs had federal rates ranking them first within their sports (three with perfect 100 scores) among the NCAA FBS subset. Men’s basketball at 85 ranked tied for first with Penn State.