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Notre Dame To Conclude Five-Game Homestand On Tuesday Against Kennesaw State

Nov. 23, 2009

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No. 23/- Notre Dame (4-0) vs. Kennesaw State (2-1)
Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 – 7:00 p.m.
Chicago Invitational Challenge
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center (9,149)
Notre Dame, Ind.

TV: None

Radio: Jack Nolan (play-by-play analyst)
LaPhonso Ellis (color analyst)
Notre Dame Sports Properties originates the Notre Dame Radio Network which includes: WSBT AM 960 (South Bend, Ind.); WLS AM 890 (Chicago, Ill.); WXNT-AM 1420 in Indianapolis, Ind.; WEFM FM 95.9 (Michigan City, Ind.); WLYV AM 1450 (Ft. Wayne, Ind.); ESPN AM 1480 – WRSW (Warsaw, Ind.); WLUV AM 1520 (Rockford, IIl.); WVIL FM 101.3 (Jacksonville, Ill.); KWOC AM 930 (Poplar Bluff, Mo.); WJLS AM 560 (Beckley, W. Va.); WKKX AM 1600 (Wheeling, W. Va.); SIRIUS Satellite (159) and XM Radio (117); and www.und.com

Real-Time Stats: Live in-game statistics are available for all home games via the Notre Dame athletic website (www.und.com).

Notre Dame vs. Kennesaw State

  • Notre Dame (4-0) plays its second game in 48 hours and the fifth of a five-game homestand as the Irish entertain Kennesaw State (2-1) in the second game of the Chicago Invitational Challenge. The matchup will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
  • Notre Dame will be looking to improve its record to 5-0 for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign when that Irish squad began the season 7-0.
  • Following tonight’s contest against Kennesaw State, the Irish will head to Chicago, Ill., to face Northwestern in the first of two games on Nov. 27 at UIC Pavilion. The following night, Notre Dame will play either Saint Louis or Iowa State.
  • Kennesaw State is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Notre Dame is 7-0 all-time versus teams from the conference. The Irish opened up the 2009-10 campaign with an 86-65 victory over another Atlantic Sun member, North Florida.
  • Notre Dame improved to 4-0 on the season with 91-72 victory over Liberty on Sunday night. Luke Harangody led all scorers with 32 points as he was 10-14 from the field and matched a Notre Dame record with a 10-10 performance from chargity stripe. Tyrone Nash chipped in a career-high 12 points, while Tim Abromaitis also added 12 points. Abromaitis has scored in double figures in all four games.
  • Notre Dame appeared in the polls for the first time this season as the Irish are ranked 23rd in this week’s Associated Press poll. oKennesaw State enters the game with a 2-1 record. After opening the season with wins over North Greenville (89-79) and North Georgia (75-65), the Owls dropped a 76-66 decision to Saint Louis on the road in the opening round of the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

Ironmen

  • Irish seniors Luke Harangody, Tory Jackson and Jonathan Peoples have logged heavy playing time in their Irish careers. The trio has played in a combined 307 contests and been in the starting lineup on 184 occasions.
  • Harangody has made 87 consecutive starts in the 103 contests he has played as he earned a spot in the starting lineup in the 16th game of his freshman season. He has averaged 28.2 mintues per game. He missed the only two games of his career last season when he was diagnosed with pneumonia.
  • Jackson has never missed a game during his collegiate career (105 contests) and started 91 games while averaging 31.7 minutes per game.
  • Peoples will be playing in his 100th career game this evening and will be making his seventh career start.

A New Era In Notre Dame Basketball – Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center

  • Notre Dame basketball gets a facelift in 2009-10 as the largest renovation in Joyce Center history signals the opening of Purcell Pavilion. The $26.3-million project, which began with groundbreaking ceremonies in September 2008, was made possible by lead gifts from Philip J. Purcell III, Vincent J. Naimoli and Mike Leep, Sr. The renovation encompasses construction of a new three-story structure at the south end of the arena that will include a new three-story lobby, the Notre Dame ticket operations (approximately 4,500 square feet) and a varsity shop to sell apparel and souvenirs (approximately 3,000 square feet), in addition to a new club seating and hospitality area. Replacement of the existing Joyce Center arena seating, including the installation of chair-back seating throughout the arena, took place during the summer of 2009 following Commencement Exercises in May. The entire project is scheduled for completion in January 2010.
  • The arena is Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center – and the new club/hospitality area (and two outdoor patios) will be named the Naimoli Family Sports Club Room. The new varsity shop will be named the Mike Leep Sr. Varsity Shop, while the three-story atrium is named after former Notre Dame athletic director Dick Rosenthal.

Class of 2010 Aims For History

  • The Irish senior class of Luke Harangody, Tory Jackson, Jonathan Peoples and Tim Andree enters its final season looking to become the all-time winningest class in career and BIG EAST Conference victories at Notre Dame. The quartet has a 74-31 record for a .705 winning percentage and is 33-19 (.635) overall in BIG EAST play. They need 19 wins to surpass the 92 wins from the 1975-79 and 1977-81 classes. The most BIG EAST wins are 40 set by Irish teams from 2000-04 and 2004-08.

Harangody Tops Associated Press Preseason All-America Team

  • Luke Harangody was the leading vote-getter on the Associated Press Preseason All-America Team that was announced Nov. 2. Harangody received 57 votes from the 65-member media panel. Joining him on the preseason AP All-America team was junior Cole Aldrich of Kansas (49 votes), senior Sherron Collins of Kansas (39 votes), junior Patrick Patterson of Kentucky (35 votes) and junior Kyle Singler of Duke (30 votes).
  • Harangody also was one of nine BIG EAST players named to the 50-person 2009-10 Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List that was announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
  • In August, Harangody was named to the John R. Wooden All-America Team Preseason Top 50 List. Among the 50 returnees, he is the only two-time member of that squad having earned a spot on the 10-member team in both 2008 and 2009.
  • Harangody also was named as one of 30 candidates in men’s basketball for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Same Game, New Number
  • Irish fans will not see the familiar No. 2 worn by Tory Jackson in his first three seasons as he has switched jersey numbers and is wearing No. 3 in 2009-10.

Points a Plenty

  • Through its first four games, Notre Dame is averaging 88.5 points per game and yielding just 67.8 to its opponents. The Irish have opened up the season by topping the 80-point mark in each of their first four games. The last time a Notre Dame team opened up the season by scoring 80-plus points in its first three games was in 1988-89 – St. Bonaventure (92-72), Kentucky (81-65) and INdiana (84-71). The last time Notre Dame topped the 80-point mark in the first four games of a season was in 1978-79. That same Irish team topped the 80-plus point mark in the first five games of the season.

Notre Dame Rolls Under Brey in November

  • Notre Dame teams have traditionally played well under had coach Mike Brey during the month of November. During his 10 seasons on the Irish bench, his teams have compiled a 39-6 (.867) record.

Busy Start to Season

  • Notre Dame faces a busy opening to the season with seven games in 14 days. Tonight’s game is the fourth in eight days for the Irish and is the fifth home tilt in five home contests in the span of eight days before they travel to Chicago, Ill., for two contests at the Chicago Invitational Challenge. Notre Dame plays seven games during the month of December all at Purcell Pavilion.

Irish Aim For Fourth Straight 20-Win Season

  • Notre Dame will be looking for its fourth straight 20-win season in 2009-10. The Irish recorded a 24-8 record in 2006-07, finished 25-8 in 2008-09 and posted a 21-15 mark in 2008-09. Notre Dame last had three consecutive 20-win campaigns in head coach Mike Brey’s first three seasons from 2000-03. The last time Irish teams reached the 20-win mark in four straight campaigns was from 1983-89 when those Notre Dame squads under former head coach Digger Phelps had six consecutive 20-win seasons.

Postseason Stretch

  • Notre Dame has earned appearances in the postseason in each of the last 10 years – it’s the longest stretch in school history. The Irish have been in the NCAA Tournament on five occasions and in the National Invitation Tournament five times during this current stretch.
  • Under 10th-year head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame has played in the NCAA five times and NIT four times. The Irish advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2003.

Non-Conference Home Win Streak

  • With its win on Sunday night against Liberty, Notre Dame extended its home win streak versus non-conference opponents to 41 games. The Irish last lost to a non-conference opponent at home when they suffered a 71-57 setback to Michigan on Dec. 3, 2005.

The Captains

Harangody Tabbed as BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year

  • For the second straight year, Luke Harangody was named the 2009-10 Preseason BIG EAST player of the year by a vote of the league’s head coaches. Harangody was chosen for the honor prior to his junior season after earning the conference’s player-of-the-year accolade in 2008. Last season, he became the first player in league history to lead the conference in both scoring (25.2) and rebounding (12.8). Harangody is one of only four players in Notre Dame history with 1,800 career points and 900 rebounds, ranking eighth all-time with 1,842 points and standing fifth with 956 rebounds. In his three-year BIG EAST career, he has scored 1,031 points (19.9 ppg.) in 52 league contests. Only three other players in BIG EAST history — Ray Allen (Connecticut), Richard Hamilton (Connecticut) and Pat Garrity (Notre Dame) — scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons.

Harangody Approaching Unique Milestone

  • Luke Harangody is approaching a milestone never before achieved by an Irish basketball player – 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Heading into Tuesdsay night’s contest against Kennesaw State, Harangody is just 170 points and 14 rebounds shy of reaching that mark with 1,930 points and 986 rebounds in 104 career outings.
  • Only four players in Notre Dame history have scored 1,000 points and grabbed 1,000 rebounds:
    Tom Hawkins (1956-59):1,746 points, 1318 rebounds
    Bob Whitmore (1966-69): 1,580 points, 1043 rebounds
    LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92): 1,505 points, 1075 rebounds
    Walter Sahm (1962-65): 1,077 points, 1146 rebounds

Elder Statesman

  • Mike Brey is in his 10th season along the Irish sidelines and is the third-longest tenured coach in the BIG EAST, behind only Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Jim Calhoun of Connecticut. Brey stands seventh all-time in the BIG EAST win 92 victories (92-69 overall that includes regular-season and tournament contests). He needs just six wins to move ahead of Steve Lappas, who coached at Villanova, on the career wins list and is eight wins shy of becoming just the sixth coach in BIG EAST history to record 100 conference wins.

BIG EAST All-Time Winningest Coaches By Victories
(Includes conference regular-season and championship games)
1. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse – 356
2. Jim Calhoun, Connecticut – 282
3. John Thompson, Georgetown – 231
4. Lou Carnesecca, St. John’s – 139
5. Rollie Massimino, Villanova – 123
6. Steve Lappas, Villanova – 97
7. Mike Brey, Notre Dame – 92

Jackson Set to Become 50th 1,000-Point Scorer in Notre Dame History

  • Tory Jackson is looking to become the 50th player in program history to score 1,000 career points and needs just 66 to reach that mark. He owns a scoring average of 8.9 points and has played in all 105 games of his Irish career.
  • With 533 career assists, he would become just the fourth player in school history with 1,000 career points and 500 assists.
  • The current three players with 1,000 points and 500 assists include:
    Chris Thomas (2001-05): 2,195 points, 833 assists
    David Rivers (1984-88): 2,011 points, 586 assists
    Elmer Bennett (1956-59): 1,488 points, 516 assists

An Elite Club

  • With 1,930 points and 986 rebounds in 103 career outings, Luke Harangody is one of just four players in the 104-year history of the Notre Dame basketball program to score 1,800 points and grab 800 rebounds. The others to reach this milestone have been:
    Adrian Dantley (1973-76): 2,223 points, 843 rebounds
    Troy Murphy (1998-01): 2,011 points, 924 rebounds
    Tom Hawkins (1956-59): 1,820 points, 1,318 rebounds

A BEN-e-ful Debut

  • Senior guard Ben Hansbrough had a successful debut in an Irish uniform against North Florida in the season opener as he scored 19 points and dished off four assists in 31 minutes. Hansbrough was 5-6 from the field overall in the contest.
  • He finished 5-5 from three-point range and in the process tied a Purcell Pavilion record for three-point field goal percentage.
  • Hansbrough followed that performance up with 18 points and seven assists against St. Francis.
  • Hansbrough scored in double figures in Notre Dame’s first three games – the second time in his career that he netted 10-plus points in three straight contests. As a freshman at Mississippi State, he scored in double figures in four straight games.

En Fuego

  • As a team, Notre Dame is shooting 54.1 percent (126-233) from the field and 48.1 percent (38-79) from three-point range. Leading the way from the field and from the perimeter are Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis. Hansbrough is shooting 61.5 percent from the field (16-26) and 68.8 percent (11-16) from three-point range, while Abromaitis has connected on 70.4 percent of his shots (19-27) and 68.8 percent from the perimeter (11-6).

Making It Count

  • Junior forward Tim Abromaitis, who played in just 12 games as a freshman in 2007-08 and did not play at all during the 2008-09 campaign, has had timely contributions in Notre Dame’s first three games as he is averaging 13.3 points and 3.8 rebounds.
  • In the season opener against North Florida, Abromaitis came off the bench and registered then personal-bests 21 minutes and scored 13 points (first career game in double figures) as he connected on 5-6 shots from the field and was 3-4 from three-point range.
  • In Notre Dame’s second outing of the season, he eclipsed his career best with a 17-point performance that also included grabbing a personal best five rebounds.
  • Abromaitis has scored in double figures in Notre Dame’s first four games.

Rock Solid

  • Notre Dame’s new backcourt tandem of seniors Tory Jackson and Ben Hansbrough have combined for 44 assists and turned the ball over just 13 times.
  • Jackson owns an 3.43 assist-to-turnover ratio (24 assists, 7 turnovers), while Hansbrough stands at 3.33 (20 assists, 6 turnovers).
  • Jackson is averaging a turnover every 18.9 minutes, while Hansbrough is averaging a turnover every 20.3 minutes.

The Peoples’ Choice

  • Senior guard Jonathan Peoples has started the first four games of the 2009-10 campaign and six for his career. In the season-opening win over North Florida, he played a career-high 30 minutes in the contest and notched his third career double-figure outing as he scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting, including a 3-5 performance from three-point range.

Statistical Champions

  • Notre Dame finished first nationally in 2008-09 in two statistical categories – turnovers (9.5) and assist to turnovers (1.75).
  • In 2007-08, the Irish led the nation in assists with 18.4 per game.

105 Years Young

  • The 2009-10 campaign marks the 105th season of basketball at Notre Dame and the 15th season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference. Notre Dame teams have posted a 1655-908 record for a .646 winning percentage. In 14 seasons as a member of the BIG EAST, the Irish own a 123-113 (.521) record all-time in conference regular-season play.

BIG EAST Turnaround

  • During head coach Mike Brey’s tenure, Notre Dame has had only two losing seasons in BIG EAST play – 6-10 in 2005-06 and 8-10 in 2008-09. Since the ’05-’06 campaign when the Irish finished 6-10 after beginning the BIG EAST campaign with a 1-8 record, Notre Dame has gone 38-21 (.644) over the last 59 regular-season league games.

BIG EAST Formula For Success

  • Since his arrival at Notre Dame, Mike Brey has led the Irish to an 88-60 (.594) record in BIG EAST regular-season games and a 4-9 mark in tournament play for an overall record of 92-69 (.571) against league foes. In Brey’s first season, the Irish posted their first-ever winning record in BIG EAST play and won the league’s West Division title with an 11-5 mark. Prior to Brey’s arrival at Notre Dame, Irish teams had a 35-53 (.398) regular-season record from 1995-2000.

343 And Counting

  • Entering tonight’s contest against Kennesaw State, Notre Dame has hit at least one three-pointer in 343 straight games, a mark that dates back to the 1998-99 campaign. The last time an Irish team failed to hit a three-pointer in a game was in a 101-70 loss to Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center on Jan. 12, 1999 as Notre Dame finished 0-7 from beyond the arc. In 2008-09, the Irish set a single-season three-point record with 319.

Now That’s Something To Talk About

  • Notre Dame has won 56 of its last 59 home games that included a school-record 45-game win streak from 2006-09. The Irish also tied a BIG EAST mark by winning 20 straight conference home games during that time period. Notre Dame became the first BIG EAST team in conference history to record back-to-back undefeated seasons at home after finishing 17-0 in ’06-’07 and 18-0 in ’07-’08. Here’s a look at the dominance of the Irish over the course of the last 58 contests at home:
Notre Dame Opponents
FG Pct. 1655-3528 (.469) 1452-3605 (.403)
3-FG Pct. 524-1293 (.405) 394-1208 (.326)
Points/Avg. 4,854 (82.3 ppg.) 3,841 (65.1 ppg.)
Margin of Victory +1013 points (+17.2)

Notre Dame has shot .500 or better in 23 of 59 games; opponents have shot .500 or better in 4 of 59 games. There have been 39 wins by 10-plus points; 22 wins by 20-plus points; 14 wins by 30-plus points; 5 wins by 40-plus points; and 1 win by 50-plus points.

In the Spotlight

  • Notre Dame will appear on national television 14 times during the 2009-10 campaign that includes two games on CBS (UCLA and Georgetown), seven contests on either ESPN or ESPN2 and five games on ESPNU. The Irish appeared on national television a school-record 23 times in 2008-09.

Irish Sign Three Guards In Early Signing Period

  • Irish head coach Mike Brey signed a trio of guards during the early signing period in November: Eric Atkins (Columbia, Md./Mount St. Joseph/6-1, 170); Alex Dragicevich (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North/6-6, 210) and Jerian Grant (Bowie, Md./DeMatha/6-5, 180). Atkins averaged 23.4 points, 6.0 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 steals en route to earning Baltimore Catholic League player-of-the-year honors and first team all-Baltimore Metor accolades. Dragicevich led his Glenbrook North squad to a 23-5 record in 2008-09 while averaging 20.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists and being selected as the Central Suburban League North Player of the Year. Grant will be one of three members from the current Notre Dame men’s basketball family who attended DeMatha, which also is the alma mater of Brey and assistant Rod Balanis. As a junior, he averaged 7.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists and led his team to a final 32-4 mark and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

It’s Academic

  • When the Irish finished with a 3.168 grade point average following the 2009 spring semester, it marked the ninth time in 11 semesters that head coach Mike Brey’s squad had finished with a 3.00 grade index or higher.
  • Members of the 2008-09 Irish squad earned a 3.151 following the 2008 fall semester, and, for the academic year, produced a 3.165 GPA. With the completion of the ’09 spring semester, Notre Dame players had a cumulative 3.105 grade point average, the highest ever. It also marked the 10th consecutive semester that the team has earned a cumulative GPA of above a 3.00.
  • Notre Dame won the BIG EAST Academic Sport Excellence Award for men’s basketball for the second time in as many years. The BIG EAST began recognizing the highest collective grade-point averages in each conference sport in 2008. The Irish men’s basketball team has won it each of the two years it has been presented and joined two other Notre Dame squads (men’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis) as recipients in 2009.
  • Seven players were named to the 2008-09 BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team, while 10 of the 14 members of the squad earned a grade point average of 3.00 or better in the spring semester.

Trends Under Brey

  • Under Irish head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame always has been a team that has had a high number of assists and very few turnovers. Here’s a look a the Irish under Brey: …
FGs Assts TOs Asst/Bskt Asst/TO
2000-01 814 527 434 .647 1.21
2001-02 934 629 435 .673 1.45
2002-03 917 558 446 .609 1.25
2003-04 766 434 329 .567 1.32
2004-05 671 415 341 .618 1.22
2005-06 772 468 364 .606 1.29
2006-07 869 552 414 .635 1.33
2007-08 914 608 429 .665 1.42
2008-09 988 601 343 .608 1.75
2009-10 126 75 50 .595 1.50