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Notre Dame To Host Georgetown

March 1, 2001

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21/20 GEORGETOWN Hoyas (22-6, 9-6)

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13/T13 NOTRE DAME Fighting Irish (19-7, 11-4)

Date: Sunday, March 4, 2001
Place: Joyce Center (11,418)
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Radio: Host Communications Inc. (Jack Lorri, Jack Nolan) originates the Notre Dame Radio Network (includes WNDV-1490 AM and WNDV-92.9 FM in South Bend, WNTS-1590 AM in Indianapolis, WAUR-930 AM in Chicago, WGL-1250 AM WGL 1570 AM in Ft. Wayne, WEFM-95.9 FM in Michigan City, WGOM-860AM in Marion, WVHI-1330 AM in Evansville, WLUV-1520 AM in Rockford, Ill., KATD-990AM in San Francisco, Calif., WDEL-1550 AM in Wilmington, Del., and KIND-1010AM in Independence, Kan.). All radio broadcasts can also be heard through the World Wide Web at www.und.com.
Television: CBS Sports — Dick Enberg (play-by-play) and Clark Kellogg (color).

IRISH ITEMS FOR THE GEORGETOWN GAME:
Notre Dame (19-7, 11-4) plays its final regular season contest of the 2000-01 campaign this afternoon when it plays host to Georgetown (21-6, 11-6). The Irish clinched the BIG EAST West Division title with its victory at Virginia Tech (85-61) eight days ago. It marked the first-ever league championship for a Notre Dame men’s basketball team since the Irish joined the conference in 1995-96. The 11 wins in the league are the most by a Notre Dame team whose previous best had been eight (on three occasions).

Head Coach Mike Brey’s squad, winners of 10 of their last 12 contests, is coming off of a 75-59 setback at Connecticut on Monday. The 16-point margin was its worst loss in seven defeats this season and also snapped a five-game win streak for the Irish on the road. The Irish are one victory shy of reaching the 20-win mark for the first time during the regular season since the 1998-99 campaign when that Notre Dame squad finished with a 20-8 mark prior to the NCAA tournament en route to a 21-9 final record.

Notre Dame is 12-3 at home this season. In its last home outing on Feb. 21, the Irish enjoyed a 76-75 last-second victory over Boston College when senior point guard Martin Ingelsby scored the game-winning basket with 3.7 seconds to play in the contest as the Irish claimed their 12th victory at the Joyce Center this season. Notre Dame’s win over the Eagles, ranked ninth at the time, gave the Irish their second win at home and third overall this season against a top 10 opponent. Syracuse (at home) and Georgetown (on the road) were the other top 10 teams to fall victim to the Irish. The last Notre Dame team to defeat three top 10 teams in a season was the 1991-92 squad which posted wins over North Carolina (88-76), Syracuse (101-98) and UCLA (84-71).

After starting the league 1-2 overall after three games, Notre Dame won a school-record eight straight BIG EAST Conference outings. That string was snapped against Seton Hall on Feb. 18 when the Irish dropped a 74-64 decision. Prior to that loss, first-year head coach Mike Brey’s squad had not lost since dropping an 81-72 non-conference decision at Kentucky on Jan. 13. It was also Notre Dame’s first league loss since an 78-76 setback to Seton Hall at the Continental Airlines Arena on Jan. 8. The streak of eight straight wins included four victories at home and four on the road. The Irish won their fifth straight road game with the win over Virginia Tech. While its a first for a Notre Dame team to win five consecutive league games on the road, it also marked the first time that an Irish team produced five straight wins on the homecourt of its opponent since 1973-74 when that Notre Dame squad defeated had seven wins over Northwestern (52-50), Canisius (78-59), Michigan State (74-71), Butler (81-56), Navy (84-72), Pennsylvania (62-47) and Marquette (79-68).

Today’s matchup with the Hoyas is the second regular-season meeting between the two West Divsional opponents. In the first matchup of the season, Notre Dame defeated the Hoyas 78-71 in Washington, D.C. This afternoon’s contest will be the 12th in the series with the Hoyas owning a 6-5 advantage in the 11 games played.

The Irish are seven games above the .500 mark in BIG EAST play for the first time in school history and have assured themselves of a winning record since joining the league in 1995-96. Their 11-4 league mark ranks as its best ever.

Notre Dame is ranked 13th (tied with Syracuse in the ESPN/USA Today poll) in both rankings, moving five spots up in both polls. Brey’s squad returned to the top 25 ranking of the AP Poll five weeks ago after a two-week hiatus and is in the ESPN/USA Today Poll for the fourth straight week following a three-week absence. Notre Dame was ranked in the first 10 polls of the season after starting the preseason ranked for the first time since the 1989-90 campaign. Notre Dame started the preseason tied for 15th in the preseason AP Poll and were 17th in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. Notre Dame climbed as high as 10th in both polls on Dec. 4, but dropped from the top 10 after suffering back-to-back setbacks to Indiana and Miami (Ohio).

RECAP OF CONNECTICUT:
Notre Dame suffered its worst loss of the season in dropping a 75-59 decision at Connecticut. The Huskies had five players in double figures as Notre Dame never led in the contest.

Troy Murphy and Ryan Humphrey were the only two Irish players in double figures with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Murphy also finished with nine boards, while Humphrey grabbed seven rebounds. The Irish were outrebounded by 15 (its largest rebounding deficit of the season, 44-29) as Connecticut owned the advantage on both the offensive and defensive ends.

Notre Dame shot just 39.3 percent for the game, while the Huskies connected on 49.2 percent from the field, the second best by an Irish opponent this season. Connecticut connected on 53.3 percent of its attempts in the second half.

The Irish finished with 15 assists in the game and turned the ball over 16 times, marking the eighth time that they had more turnovers than assists in a game.

POLL POSITION:
Notre Dame is ranked 13th in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today rankings as they moved up five spots in both polls. The Irish were ranked in the first 10 polls to start the season and climbed as high as 10th in both rankings during the week of Dec. 4 before falling out of the top 10 after back-to-back home losses to Indiana and Miami of Ohio.

HEAD COACH MIKE BREY:
Mike Brey was named the 17th head coach in the program’s history on July 14, 2000 following five seasons (1995-2000) as head coach at the University of Delaware. Brey earned his first victory as Irish head coach on Nov. 18 with a 104-58 triumph over Sacred Heart. The win marked the 100th of his coaching career and came in the 152nd game of his coaching career. He has an overall record of 118-59 for a .667 winning percentage. He guided the Blue Hens to a 99-52 record during his tenure while earning berths in three postseason tournaments. Under Brey, Delaware appeared in two NCAA tournaments (’98 and ’99) and played in the National Invitation Tournament in his final season (2000). His .669 winning percentage among Division I coaches with five years as a head coach stands second only to Tom Izzo of Michigan State (.735). Prior to his arrival in Newark, Del., he spent eight seasons (1987-95) on the Duke sidelines along Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and before that stint was an assistant coach at DeMatha High School under legendary coach Morgan Wootten from 1982-87.

BREY AND MENTOR KRZYZEWSKI REACH MILESTONES ONE DAY APART:
First-year head coach Mike Brey earned his 100th career victory (in 152 games as a head coach) against Sacred Heart on Nov. 18. That win came just one day after his former mentor, Mike Krzyzewski, earned his 500th win at Duke on Nov. 17. Brey was an assistant under Krzyzewski at Duke from 1987-95.

FIRST-YEAR SUCCESS:
Mike Brey is the first first-year coach at Notre Dame to win 19 games in his first 26 contests. The last Notre Dame team to win 19 of their first 26 games was the 1985-86 Irish team coached by Digger Phelps. That team finished with an overall record of 23-6, winning 20 of its first 25 games.

MOST WINS IN THE REGULAR SEASON:
Notre Dame’s 19 wins are the most from an Irish team during the regular season since the 1988-89 campaign when that squad won 20 regular season games before finishing with a 21-9 mark following two NCAA tournament contests.

BREY NAMED NAISMITH FINALIST:
Mike Brey is among 20 finalists for the Men’s Naismith College Basketball Coach of the Year Award. He is one of four BIG EAST coaches up for the award which will be presented on April 7 in Atlanta, Ga. The three other league coaches amongst the finalists are Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Craig Esherick (Georgetown) and Al Skinner (Boston College).

BREY vs. RANKED OPPONENTS:
As a head coach at both Notre Dame and Delaware, Mike Brey has coached in 12 games against ranked opponents. Notre Dame’s game against Boston College marked the sixth ranked opponent the Irish have faced this season. Brey is 4-2 in 2000-01 versus ranked foes, and his Irish team has been victorious each of the last three times it has faced an opponent ranked in the top 25. Brey earned his first win as a head coach over a ranked opponent when Notre Dame beat then 16th-ranked Cincinnati 69-51 at the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis, Ind., on Nov. 25, 2000. In addition to the Boston College 10 days ago, Notre Dame’s other two wins against ranked opponents have come against Syracuse and Georgetown.

NOTRE DAME vs. GEORGETOWN:
Notre Dame trails 5-6 in the series. Despite being victorious in the last two outings between the two teams, the Irish have lost six of the last nine meetings between the schools. Since joining the BIG EAST, the Irish are 3-3 against the Hoyas. The last two games have been played at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. with the Irish coming out victorious in both of those games. Notre Dame pulled out a 78-71 victory on Jan., 27. There was only one regular-season meeting between the two teams last year as the Irish earned a 23-point victory (77-54) at the Joyce Center.

RECAP OF GEORGETOWN – Part I:
Notre Dame was forced to play the final 4:28 without the services of All-American Troy Murphy, who fouled out. The Irish responded to the challenge with a 10-0 run that gave Notre Dame its first-ever four-game win streak in the BIG EAST. The Irish won at the MCU Center for the second straight year with the 78-71 victory.

Ryan Humphrey recorded his seventh double-double of the season as he scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Humphrey led five Notre Dame players in double figures. Murphy netted 16 points and grabbed four rebounds before fouling out, while David Graves added 15 points, Harold Swanagan a season-high 11 points and Matt Carroll 16 points and six assists.

Notre Dame trailed six at intermission and fell behind by as many as nine (41-32) with 18:30 remaining in the contest. The Hoyas led by seven (57-50) with 7:55 to go in the game before a 9-2 run tied the game at 59-59 on Martin Ingelsby’s three-pointer. The Irish led for the first time in the game on Humphrey’s two free throws at the 3:59 mark and never relinquished the lead after that point.

Notre Dame was 23-28 from the charity stripe for the game with Swanagan hitting all seven of his free-throw attempts in the second half. As a team, the Irish were 17-21 from the free-throw line in the final four minutes of the contest.

The Irish were the first team all season to outrebound the Hoyas as they owned a 38-37 advantage on the boards.

STAR POWER:
Martin Ingelby’s leaning jumper with 3.7 seconds remaining against Boston College to pull out a 76-75 victory was recognized as the CNN Play of the Day.

A BIG EAST MOMENT FOR THE IRISH:
Notre Dame’s eight consecutive BIG EAST wins against Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, St. John’s and Rutgers marked the first time since the Irish joined the league in 1995-96 that they had posted eight straight wins over league foes. Notre Dame also is eight games above the .500 mark for the first time since becoming a league member.

BIG EAST MOMENT II FOR IRISH:
Notre Dame’s five straight road wins at Georgetown (78-71 on Jan. 27), Pittsburgh (75-67 on Feb. 3), West Virgina (69-66 on Feb. 11), Rutgers (81-59 on Feb. 14) and Virginia Tech (85-61 on Feb. 24) marked the first time since the Irish joined the BIG EAST that they have won five consecutive road games in the league. Heading into its matchup with the Mountaineers on Feb. 11, the Irish had only once won consecutive BIG EAST road outings — in 1998-99 when they defeated Providence 83-80 on Dec. 8, which was followed by a 71-68 victory versus Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 9.

SERIES SWEEPS:
Notre Dame earned its third series sweep when the Irish defeated Rutgers on Feb. 14. Head Coach Mike Brey’s squad has also swept series against PIttsburgh and West Virginia this season. Prior to the 2000-01 campaign, Notre Dame had only had three series sweeps in its previous five seasons as a member of the BIG EAST — Syracuse in 1996-97, Seton Hall in 1998-99 and Connecticut in 1999-2000.

LET THE HONORS BEGIN:
As the 2000-01 campaign comes to an end, there are surely going to be numerous accolades for Irish junior forward Troy Murphy, a first-team All-American a year ago. ESPN.com’s All-America team was unveiled by Andy Katz on Wednesday and Murphy was a first-team selection on that squad. Also named to the team were Duke’s Jason Williams and Shane Battier, Jamaal Tinsley of Iowa State and North Carolina’s Joseph Forte. The BIG EAST Confernce also was represented by Troy Bell of Boston College (second team) and Michael Bradley of Villanova (third team).

MURPHY AND THE WOODEN WATCH:
Troy Murphy is among the top 30 candidates and one of four BIG EAST players named to the midseason list for the 2001 John R. Wooden Award. Murphy, a member of the 2000 John R. Wooden All-America team, was one of the top 25 vote-getters on the Preseason List of 50 which was announced in the fall. He and Duke senior Shane Battier are the only two previous candidates among the current list of 30. The 10-member Wooden Award All-America team will be announced on March 27, 2001. From that squad, one member will receive the Wooden Award Trophy as the nation’s ?Most Outstanding Collegiate Basketball Player.? The announcement will be made on April 6, 2001, and will be shown on a one-hour telecast on Fox Sports Net. The three other BIG EAST players on the list of 30 include Albert Mouring of Connecticut, Eddie Griffin of Seton Hall and Preston Shumpert of Syracuse.

MURPHY IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
Certainly Troy Murphy can stake claim to being the most publicized men’s collegiate basketball player during the season. Feature articles appeared in three major sports publications on the junior All-American. Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl profiled Murphy in a piece entitled “Troy Story”, which appeared in the Dec. 25 issue of the magazine, while Mike DeCoursey wrote an article entitled “Getting a Slight Edge” for The Sporting News which hit the newsstands before the Christmas holiday. Curry Kirkpatrick has a piece entitled “Murphy’s Law” in the Jan. 8 bi-weekly edition of ESPN Magazine. Murphy also appeared on ESPN’s “The Life” and was the first college athlete featured in the half-hour show.

NAISMITH WATCH:
Troy Murphy is listed among the Top 15 finalistis for the 2000-01 Nasmith College Basketball Player of the Year as was announced on Feb. 12. Murphy is one of four BIG EAST players among the final 15 in consideration for the Award. The 14 finalists along with Murphy include: Shane Battier (Duke), Charlie Bell (Michigan State), Troy Bell (Boston College), Michael Bradley (Villanova), Jarron Collins (Stanford), Joe Forte (North Carolina), Eddie Griffin (Seton Hall), Brendan Haywood (North Carolina), Casey Jacobson (Stanford), Terence Morris (Maryland), Jason Richardson (Michigan State), Jamaal Tinsley (Iowa State), Jason Williams (Duke) and Michael Wright (Arizona).

Murphy is not the only Notre Dame player named a Naismith finalist. All-American Ruth Riley, a senior, is a contender for the award on the women’s side.

HUMPHREY NAMED CBS PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Ryan Humphrey was selected as the CBS Player of the Game versus Kentucky after recording his seventh double-double of the season as he finished with 12 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and three blocked shots.

MURPHY APPROACHING MILESTONES:
Troy Murphy is approaching a couple of milestones. The Irish junior needs just 52 points to become the fourth player in school history to reach the 2,000-point mark. Murphy also needs just nine rebounds for the 900th in his career and would become the first player in Notre Dame history with 2,000 points and 900 rebounds. He has career averages of 21.6 points and 9.9 rebounds. Murphy needs just 26 points to reach the 1,000-point mark in BIG EAST games and is 42 boards away from his 500th rebound. His career BIG EAST averages are 21.2 points and 10.0 rebounds.

MURPHY COPS BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS FOR FIFTH TIME
Troy Murphy was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week for the fifth time this season after averaging 22.7 points and 9.4 rebounds in leading the Irish to wins over St. John’s and West Virginia. He had 34 points and 11 rebounds against the Red Storm and scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds versus the Mountaineers. Murphy shares the honor with Todd Billet of Rutgers. He earned the player-of-the-week honor for the 10th time in his career.

MAKING THE GRADE:
While Irish head coach Mike Brey is pleased with his team’s play on the court, he can be equally proud of his squad’s performance in the classroom. The team earned an overall grade-point average of 3.027 for the fall semester, the highest combined average since 1992 (when records were first kept). It was the first semester above a 3.00 for any Notre Dame men’s basketball team in 17 semesters. Seven of the 13 players earned a grade-point average of 3.178 and higher with three players earning Dean’s List recognition. The three players named to the Dean’s List were: senior marketing majors Martin Ingelsby (3.405) and Hans Rasmussen (3.467) and freshman Chris Markwood (3.400), enrolled in the First Year of Studies.

MURPHY JOINS “20-20” CLUB:
Troy Murphy turned in one of the most memborable performances in BIG EAST Conference history on Jan. 8 at Seton Hall with his 25-point and 20-rebound outing against the Pirates. It marked only the seventh time in league history and first time since 1992 that a player registered a “20-20” in conference game. The last Notre Dame player to grab 20-plus rebounds in a game was LaPhonso Ellis — 20 vs. Dayton on Jan. 27, 1992 in a 76-54 victory.

TWO TOP 10 VICTIMS FALL AT JOYCE CENTER:
Notre Dame had two wins against top 10 opponents during the 1999-2000 campaign, but both of those victories occurred on the road. Prior to this season, Notre Dame had not had a win against a top 10 team since Feb. 5, 1994 when Notre Dame handed UCLA a 79-63 setback. At the time, the Bruins were ranked fourth in the Associated Press Poll and were tied for second in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. This season, the Irish have had two wins at the Joyce Center against top 10 foes. The Irish beat Syracuse 74-60 on Jan. 23 when the Orangemen were ranked eighth in the ESPN/USA Today ranking. Boston College was ranked 10th and ninth, respectively, in the two polls when the Irish beat the Eagles 76-75.

ND NOTCHES THREE TOP 10 WINS:
Notre Dame’s 76-75 win over Boston College marked the third victory for the Irish over a top 10 team this season. The last time a Notre Dame team beat three top 10 opponents in the same season was in 1991-92 as the Irish defeated North Carolina (88-76), Syracuse (101-98) and UCLA (84-71).

HOME COOKIN’:
With its 76-75 win over Boston College, the Irish are 12-3 at home this season at the Joyce Center. Notre Dame had won nine straight earlier in the campaign, but had its home win streak snapped when it suffered a 74-64 setback to Seton Hall. Prior to losing to the Pirates, the Irish had posted four consecutive BIG EAST wins against Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Syracuse and St. John’s. Notre Dame was 16-4 at home a year ago, and since the start of last season, have won 80.0 percent of its games at the Joyce Center.

PRODUCTIVE FRONTLINE SHOWS SCORING AND REBOUNDING VERSATILITY:
Notre Dame’s frontline duo of Troy Murphy and Ryan Humphrey have proven to be a formidable match for Irish opponents. In all but four games, one of the two has either led or tied for team-high scoring honors. The Murphy-Humphrey combination also has led Notre Dame in rebounding in 23 of 26 contests. David Graves led the Irish in scoring against Tennessee Tech (20 points) on Dec. 17 and West Virginia (17 points) on Jan. 21, while Martin Ingelsby topped the scoring column with his 17-point effort on Sun., Feb. 11 versus West Virginia and Matt Carroll was the leading scorer against Rutgers on Wednesday night. Harold Swanagan’s 10 rebounds against Pittsburgh on Jan. 16 marked the first time all season that neither Murphy or Humphrey was not the team’s leading rebounder. Murphy has been the leading scorer and rebounder in 19 and 12 games, respectively, while Humphrey has led the Irish in scoring in three games and in rebounding on 13 occasions.

DOUBLE TROUBLE:
Troy Murphy and Ryan Humphrey have produced double-doubles in the same contest in four games this season. The most recent outing was against St. John’s on Feb. 3 as Murphy scored 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Humphrey scored 16 points and grabbed 11 boards. The other three games in which the two combined for double-doubles were against Canisius (Murphy-29 points, 15 rebounds and Humphrey-20 points, 11 rebounds), Long Island (Murphy-24 points, 10 rebounds and Humphrey-20 points, 11 rebounds) and Kentucky (Murphy-14 points, 11 rebounds and Humphrey-12 points, 13 rebounds). Murphy has 12 double-doubles this season, while Humphrey has nine.

CARROLL, HUMPHREY COMBINE FOR DOUBLE-DOUBLE:
Ryan Humphrey and Matt Carroll combined for a double-double in the same game for the first time in their careers against Boston College. Humphrey had 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Carroll tossed in 17 points and grabbed a personal best 11 boards.

THE MURPHY-HUMPHREY-GRAVES COMBINATION LEADS THE WAY:
Notre Dame’s trio of Troy Murphy, Ryan Humphrey and David Graves continue to put up impressive numbers. Murphy leads the team in both scoring and rebounding as he is averaging 22.7 points and 9.4 rebounds. Humphrey has a 14.7 scoring average and is averaging 9.2 rebounds per game. Graves owns a 13.8 points per game average. The trio is responsible for 63.5 percent of the team’s offensive scoring (1,316 of 2,073 points). The three scored 20-plus points each in back-to-back games against Canisius and Vermont on Dec. 19 and 21, respectively. In the victory over the Catamounts, Murphy and Graves each had 21 points in the win, while Humphrey added 20. In the previous outing against Canisius, just 48 hours prior to the win over the Catamounts on Dec. 21, Murphy had 29 points, Graves 23 and Humphrey 20. That game marked the first time since the 1991-92 season that three players contributed 20 or more points in a game. The last time it happened was in Notre Dame’s 101-98 victory over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on February 15, 1992 when LaPhonso Ellis, Daimon Sweet and Elmer Bennett had 28, 24 and 22 points, respectively.

SPREADING THE WEALTH:
Notre Dame had all five of its starters in double figures for the third time this season in the loss at Kentucky. All five Irish starters also reached double-figure scoring in a win over Canisius and in the loss to Indiana. When all five starters — Troy Murphy, Ryan Humphrey, David Graves, Matt Carroll and Martin Ingelsby — reached double figures against the Hoosiers, it marked the first time since the 1998-99 campaign that all five starters scored 10-plus points in game. That season, all five of Notre Dame’s starting members reached double figures three times in games against Stetson, St. Francis (N.Y.) and Boston College. Five players, four starters (Murphy, Humphrey, Harold Swanagan and Carroll) and Graves who came off the bench, scored in double figures in the win at Georgetown.

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR:
All 12 players who played in the game against Long Island on Dec. 29 in the final game of 2000 contributed points in the final 97-point outing — Troy Murphy (24), Ryan Humphrey (20), David Graves (14), Matt Carroll (14), Jere Macura (7), Harold Swanagan (3), Ivan Kartelo (4), Charles Thomas (3), Martin Ingelsby (2), Torrian Jones (2), Hans Rasmussen (2) and Tom Timmermans (2).

COMEBACK KIDS:
Notre Dame has shown tremendous resiliency in recent games and has staged comebacks in both the first and second halves of contests to pull out victories. Here’s a look at the Irish comebacks:

  • West Virginia (1/21): Trailed 19-8 with 12:34 to go in first half before 16-4 run to take the lead for good with 7:39 remaining in the first half.
  • Syracuse (1/23): Never trailed in the contest.
  • Georgetown (1/27): Trailed 54-46 with 11:27 in the second half, but outscored the Hoyas 14-5 to take the lead for good with 4:59 left in the game.
  • Pittsburgh (2/3): Fell behind 21-10 with 13:05 remaining in the first half and closed out the final 13 minutes with a 24-8 run that gave the Irish a 34-29 halftime advantage. Notre Dame never trailed in the second half.
  • St. John’s (2/5): Trailed 46-36 with 18:37 remaining in the second half, but used an 18-8 run to take a two-point lead (56-54) with 9:30 left to play. Never trailed after that point and had a 19-point lead (77-58) with 2:05 remaining.
  • West Virginia (2/11): Trailed 60-53 with 6:22 left in the game before a 9-0 run helped the Irish claim a 60-58 advantage with 2:21 to play. Fell behind 65-64 with 1:40 to play before pulling out the three-point win.
  • Rutgers (2/14): Trailed 1-0 at the 19:44 mark to start the game.
  • Boston College (2/21): Trailed 39-34 at half, but used a 14-0 run to start the second half. Led 64-54 with 8:33 to play, but BC regained lead 75-73 with 1:28 to play. Notre Dame had the ball with 21.4 seconds to play and trailing 75-74 before Martin Ingelsby’s leaning jumper with 3.7 seconds left in the contest.

WING-ING IT:
The perimeter play of outside shooters David Graves and Matt Carroll give the Irish a deadly three-point shooting arsenal. The duo has made 111 (58.7 percent) of Notre Dame’s 189 three-point field goals and has attempted 281 (57.1 percent) of the team’s 492 shots from beyond the arc. Carroll is shooting 42.3 from three-point range, while Graves has made 36.8 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.

IRONMAN:
Martin Inglesby leads the team in minutes played this season as he is averging 37.2 minutes per game. He has played the entire 40 minutes in eight of 13 BIG EAST contests and in 10 games overall. The two non-league games which he played the entire 40 minutes were against Vanderbilt and Miami of Ohio.

OVER THE 100-MARK PLATEAU:
The Irish went over the 100-point mark in its first two games of the season posting victories over Sacred Heart (104-58) and Loyola (107-68). It marked the first time since the 1985-86 campaign that a Notre Dame team registered back-to-back 100-point contests. It also was the first time in school history that an Irish team began the season scoring 100-plus points in its first two contests.

HUSKIES HOLD IRISH IN CHECK:
Notre Dame was held under 60 points for the first time this season in the loss to Connecticut as the Irish scored just 59 points in the contest. That output came just two days after Notre Dame scored 85 points against Virginia Tech. The previous scoring low for the Irish was 64 points against Miami of Ohio and Seton Hall. Notre Dame has been held to under 65 points this season in three contests.

POINTS A PLENTY:
Notre Dame is averaging 79.6 points per game and outscoring its opponents by 11.5 points per game. The Irish scored 90-plus points in three consecutive games — Canisius (99-91), Vermont (96-86) and Long Island (97-49). Brey’s squad has topped the 90-point mark five times overall this season.

DEFENSE, DEFENSE:
Notre Dame ranks eighth nationally in field goal percentage defense as Irish opponents are shooting just 38.8 percent from the field and 32.0 percent from three-point range. Only one opponent, Indiana, has shot above 50.0 percent from the field against the Irish. The Hoosiers were 32-60 in shooting 53.3 percent on Dec. 5. Only four teams — Indiana, Miami of Ohio (45.3), Rutgers (49.1) and Connecticut (49.2) — have shot better than 45.0 percent from the field against the Irish this season. The last Notre Dame team to hold opponents to under 40.0 percent shooting was the 1996-97 squad (39.4).

“BIG” BIG EAST WIN:
Notre Dame’s 24-point margin of victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday was the largest for the Irish in a BIG EAST game (home or away) in five-plus seasons. Last season, the Irish posted a 23-point win (77-54) at Georgetown for the largest point differential in a league road game for a Notre Dame team.

WORTH NOTING FROM THE LOYOLA GAME:
Notre Dame’s strong outing against the Ramblers on Nov. 22 produced some noteworthy team numbers in the contest:

  • Set school record for three-point field goals made (16) and three-point field goal percentage (.727 – 16 of 22).
  • Tied the school record for blocked shots (12).
  • Second time since 1985-86 that the Irish recorded back-to-back outings 100-point outings (vs. Manhattan – 102-47 and vs. Miami (Fla.) – 126-73).

500TH GAME AT JOYCE CENTER:
Notre Dame played its 500th game at the Joyce Center on Nov. 18 against Sacred Heart. The Irish are 397-117 all-time at the Joyce Center for a .772 winning percentage since it began play in the inaugural 1968-69 season. The Irish were 16-4 (.800) at home in 1999-2000, marking the third time in school history they had 16 victories (the most at the Joyce Center). Notre Dame also recorded 16 wins at the Joyce during the 1976-77 and 1982-83 campaigns.

BLOCK PARTY:
Notre Dame has already set the single-season blocked shots record with 161 in 26 games for an average of 6.2 blocks per game. The previous mark of 145 was set by the 1991-92 Notre Dame team. The Irish had 110 blocks during the 1999-2000 campaign. Ryan Humphrey leads the team with 72, while Troy Murphy is second with 47.

GRAVES ACHIEVES FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE:
David Graves notched his first double-double of the season against Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon as he scored 19 points and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds. It marked the third double-double of his career.

CARROLL NOTCHES FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE:
Matt Carroll notched his first career double-double on Wednesday night as he scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 11 boards (the first time he has grabbed 10-plus rebounds in a game). He has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games and in 19 contests overall this season.

GRAVES JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB:
Junior David Graves joined Notre Dame’s 1,000-point club and became the 41st player in Irish basketball history to reach that mark. Graves tallied his 1,000th point in the win over Vermont on Dec. 21. He notched his 1,000th point in the second half on a free throw with 16:58 remaining in the contest. He has 1,217 points in 93 career games for a 13.1 career scoring average heading into today’s game and currently ranks 26th on the all-time Notre Dame scoring list.

A 1,000-POINT CLASS ACT:
With David Graves reaching the 1,000-point mark, he joined Troy Murphy (1,948 career points) as the second member of Notre Dame’s class of 2002 to reach that plateau. It marks the first time that a class has produced at least two 1,000-point scorers since the trio of LaPhonso Ellis, Elmer Bennett and Daimon Sweet. The three combined for 4,403 points from 1988-92 with Ellis scoring 1,505 points, Bennett 1,488 points and Sweet 1,410 points. Graves and Murphy have combined for 3,165 points in two-plus seasons.

SWANAGAN SPARKLES:
Since the Christmas break, Harold Swanagan’s play has earned him more and more playing time. The Irish junior has been one of the team’s most productive players and has been in the starting lineup in each of the last 12 games beginning with the Pittsburgh game on Jan. 16. Swanagan will be in the starting lineup tonight for the 13th time this season. Since becoming a starter, he has scored in double figures in two of those games — 11 points at Georgetown and 10 at Rutgers. Against the Scarlet Knights, he played a season-high 28 minutes and also finished with a team-high six rebounds in the contest. In his second game as a starter this season (and first in the last eight-game stretch), Swanagan grabbed season-best 10 boards which marked the fifth time in his career he had 10-plus rebounds in a game. In the win at Georgetown, Swanagan finished with a season-best 11 points, six rebounds and two assists, and in addition, connected on all seven of his free-throw attempts from the field.

LEADER OF THE PACK:
The consistency of Troy Murphy as both a scorer and rebounder is remarkable when considering these numbers. Of the 90 career games he has played (he missed three games his freshman year because of a sprained ankle), Murphy has led or tied for team-high scoring and rebounding honors on 71 and 59 occasions, respectively. Below is the breakdown year-to-year of how he has led the Irish in both categories during his career.

Some other noteworthy statistics include: 89 of 90 games in double figure scoring, 44 career double-doubles, 16 career games with 30-plus points and 52 contests with 20-plus points.

MURPHY GETS 100TH BLOCK:
Troy Murphy blocked his 100th career shot against Long Island on Dec. 29 and currently second on the Notre Dame all-time career shot-blocking list with 123. LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92) is the Irish all-time leader in this category with 200.

HUMPREY REACHES 1,000 POINTS:
Ryan Humphrey’s 15 points against Connecticut on Sunday night put him over the 1,000-point mark for his career with 1,003 points. The Irish forward, who has scored 367 points in a Notre Dame uniform, had 636 points in his first two seasons at the University of Oklahoma before transferring to Notre Dame. He has played in 88 career games and owns a 14.7 scoring average.

A MURPHY MOMENT:
Troy Murphy grabbed his 800th career rebound in Notre Dame’s win over Syracuse on Jan. 23 becoming just the 10th Irish player to reach that mark. Murphy has 891 rebounds in his career and is one of just two Notre Dame players in history to score more than 1,900 points and grab more than 800 rebounds. The only other Irish player to achieve that milestone was Adrian Dantley (1973-74) who scored 2,223 points and grabbed 843 rebounds during his career.

INGLESBY CONTINUES TO CLIMB ASSIST CHART:
Senior Martin Ingelsby dished off his 500th career assist against Virginia Tech on Feb. 24. He currently has 504 career assists, good for fourth on the all-time career assist list. Ingelsby recently passed Rich Branning (1976-80) who finished his career with 466 assists. Ingelsby owns a 4.24 assist average in 119 career games.

FOLLOWING TROY ON THE WEB:
Follow All-American Troy Murphy on the world wide web at www.und.com/troymurphy. The site includes biographical information, statistics, pictures, a weekly diary, a listing of awards and honors and links to articles on the web which have been written on this Irish junior. For more information on the site, contact the Notre Dame Sports Information Office at (219) 631-7516.

MURPHY GOES HAWAIIAN:
Troy Murphy’s travels took him twice to Hawaii within a two-week span in August and early September. The Irish junior participated in the Pete Newell Big Man Camp just before returning to campus for the start of the school year and met up with former Notre Dame standout and 1997 BIG EAST Player of the Year Pat Garrity. Murphy made a second trip across the mainland when he played for the USA Men’s Select Team on Sept. 2 in Honolulu against the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team. The game was televised by NBC and Murphy finished with four points and three rebounds. St. John’s head coach Mike Jarvis served as the team’s coach.

DOUBLE-TAKE FOR HUMPHREY:
Just 26 games into his Notre Dame career, Ryan Humphrey has already posted nine double-doubles in an Irish uniform. His most recent came against Boston College 10 days ago when he scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He has registered double-doubles in eight of the last 18 games, and in back-to-back contests against Tennessee Tech (10 points, 12 rebounds) on Dec. 17, Canisius (20 points, 11 rebounds) on Dec. 19 and Long Island (20 points, 11 rebounds) on Dec. 21. Humphrey, who has 19 career double-doubles (10 in two seasons at Oklahoma), registered his first double-double at Notre Dame in the win over Cincinnati on Nov. 25 as he scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He also has had 10 or more rebounds in 27 games during his career and scored 10-plus points on 57 occasions. Humphrey also has scored 20-plus points in seven games throughout his career.

GRAVES PRODUCES BACK-TO-BACK-TO BACK 20-POINT OUTINGS:
David Graves has scored 20-plus points in four games this season. including a season-high 24-point performance against Pittsburgh on Feb. 3. He had three consecutive outings (a first in his career) in which he scored 20-plus points against Tennessee Tech (20 points), Canisius (23 points) and Vermont (21 points) and averaged 21.3 points in those victories. He has scored 20-plus points nine times during his career, which includes a 33-point effort against Vanderbilt during the 1999-2000 campaign.

MURPHY DOUBLE-DOUBLES REACHES 12:
Troy Murphy registered his 12th double-double of the season, and 44th of his career against Virginia Tech last Saturday as he scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Murphy’s other double-doubles have come against Seton Hall (24 points, 16 rebounds), Sacred Heart (31 points, 14 rebounds), Vanderbilt (23 points, 11 rebounds), Canisius (29 points, 15 rebounds), Vermont (21 points, 13 rebounds), Long Island (24 points, 10 rebounds), Seton Hall (25 points, 20 rebounds), Kentucky (14 points, 11 rebounds), Syracuse (34 points, 16 rebounds), St. John’s (34 points, 11 rebounds) and West Virginia (15 points, 10 rebounds). He has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 45 career games.

STREAKING ALONG:
Troy Murphy’s 20 points against Virginia Tech extended his streak of double figure scoring games to 77. The junior forward has netted double figures in 89 of 90 contests throughout his career. The only time he failed to score in double figures was against Syracuse on Dec. 29, 1995 when he scored just five points. In that game all of his points came from the free-throw line (5-6) as he was 0-11 from the field.

THIRTY SOMETHING:
Troy Murphy has scored 30-plus points in five of Notre Dame’s 23 games this season. In addition to his 34 points against Syracuse and St. John’s, he netted a career-best 37 points in the win over Rutgers on Jan. 6. He also had 31 in the season opener against Sacred Heart on Nov. 18 and 30 vs. Cincinnati on Nov. 25. He scored 30 or more points in nine games last season and has 15 career 30-plus outings. He also has scored 20-plus points 52 times in 90 career games.

IRISH THREE-POINTERS EXTEND TO 76 STRAIGHT GAMES:
Notre Dame’s five three-pointers against Virginia Tech extended its consecutive games with a three-pointer to 76 games. The Irish streak nearly ended at Pittsburgh when they had just one three-pointer (a season low) against the Panthers on Feb. 3. The last time the Irish failed to connect on at least one three-pointer in a game was against Connecticut in a 101-70 loss in Hartford, Conn., on January 12, 1999. Notre Dame set the school single-game three-point mark when it nailed 16 three-pointers against Loyola.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE:
David Graves’ streak of 50 consecutive games with a three-pointer came to an end against West Virginia when he went 0-4 from beyond the three-point arc. Prior to this game, the last time Graves failed to make a three-pointer was against Maryland on Nov. 26, 1999. He also went 0-2 against Boston College on Feb. 21. In 93 career games, he has had at least one three-point field goal in all but 12 contests.

CARROLL LEADS IRISH AGAINST SCARLET KNIGHTS:
For the second time in his career, Matt Carroll led the Irish in scoring when he scored a team-high 20 points against Rutgers on seven-for-nine shooting from the field in the win on Feb. 14. It marked the second 20-point outing of the season for Carroll who also had season-high 22 points against Loyola (Chicago) in the second game of the season. He also led the Irish in scoring one other time during his career — last season as a freshman versus Villanova when he scored 17 points in an 86-69 loss to the Wildcats on Feb. 8, 2000.

MACURA NETS SEASON HIGH:
Jere Macura had a season-high 10 points against Rutgers on Wednesday night as he connected on four-of-five shots from the field and played 13 minutes of the contest. It marked the sixth 10-plus outing in his career.

MY FAVORITE MARTIN:
Senior Martin Ingelsby returned to his role as a starter this season after serving as Notre Dame’s starting point guard for both the 1997-98 and 1998-99 campaigns. A starter in his first two seasons, Ingelsby lost his starting job in the seventh game of the season a year ago and averaged just 14.8 minutes and 4.8 points per game in 1999-2000. Through 26 games this season, he leads the team in minutes played (37.2) and is averaging 8.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists.

DISHING IT OUT:
Martin Ingelsby leads the Irish with 171 assists. Most impressive is the fact that he has committed just 49 turnovers in 26 games. Ingelsby had six assists and no turnovers against Virginia Tech eight days ago (the first time all season with no turnovers in a game). He had a career-high 13 assists against Rutgers on Jan. 6, while commiting just one turnover. It marked the fourth time this season he had dished off 10-plus assists in a game. He dished off 11 assists in both the Loyola (Chicago) and Canisius contests, while also registering 10 assists in the win over Long Island. The 13 assists in the Rutgers game was the eighth time in his career in which he had dished off 10-plus assists. Ingelsby has played 966 of a possible 1040 minutes and is averaging a turnover every 19.7 minutes and just 1.88 turnovers per game. Ingelsby’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.49 leads the BIG EAST Conference. He had a season-high five turnovers against Seton Hall in the recent loss to the Pirates.

CONSISTENT CARROLL:
No Irish player has been as consistent throughout the season has sophomore Matt Carroll. He registered double figures for the 37th time in his career (and 19th time this season) against Virginia Tech as he scored 19 points. He is shooting 47.9 (113-236) percent from the field, 42.3 (58-137) from three-point range and 84.3 (43-51) from the charity stripe. Even more impressive is that he is second in the assist column with 104 (4.00 per game).

UNSELFISH IRISH:
The most telling statistic in Notre Dame’s 26 games — the 473 assists (18.2 per game). Notre Dame has made a total of 719 field goals which translates into an assist for every 1.52 baskets. As a team, the Irish have committed 381 turnovers, resulting in a 1.24 assist-to-turnover ratio and a turnover every 2.73 minutes. Last season, Notre Dame had more turnovers (656) than assists (643).

IRISH SHOW TRIPLE THREAT AGAIN:
Notre Dame’s three-point shooting appears to be alive and healthy again this season as the Irish have canned an average of 7.26 three-pointers (189-492) in 26 games. Matt Carroll leads the way with 58, while David Graves has made 53 and Martin Ingelsby 43. In the season opener against Sacred Heart, the Irish began the game by hitting eight of their first nine three-pointers. They also had a school-record 16 against Loyola on Nov. 22. Last season, the Irish averaged 7.8 three-pointers per game en route to establishing the single-season mark with 287.

MURPHY MOVES INTO TOP 10 ON IRISH SCORING CHARTS:
Troy Murphy became the 40th player in Notre Dame history to score 1,000 points on Jan. 29, 2000 when the Irish defeated St. John’s. He started the season 16th on the all-time scoring list, but the 590 points he has scored in 26 games have elevated him to fifth on the scoring list with 1,948 career points. Against St. John’s, Murphy passed Tom Hawkins (1956-59), who scored 1,820 points during his career. He now needs 111 points to move into fourth on the all-time scoring list occupied by David Rivers (1984-88) who finished his career with 2,058 points.

Murphy became the second-youngest player in Irish history to score 1,000 points at 19 years and 272 days old. Former Irish All-American Adrian Dantley (1973-76) was 18 years and 355 days old when he scored his 1,000th point. Murphy also joined Dantley as the only Irish players to reach the 1,000-point mark in their sophomore seasons. He scored his 1,000th point in his 48th career game — the fifth-fastest among Notre Dame’s 1,000-point scorers. All-time leading scorer Austin Carr (1968-71) needed just 35 games, while Dantley needed 44. It took John Shumate (1972-74) and Bob Arnzen (1966-69) 46 games to score 1,000 points.

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE FOR MURPHY:
Among active Division I players through games of Jan. 15 according to STATS Inc., Troy Murphy is first with 44 career double-doubles. He has scored in double figures in 89 of 90 career games he has played and has registered double figures in 77 straight contests heading into tonight’s game. The only time Murphy has failed to score in double figures was against Syracuse on Dec. 29, 1998.