Dec. 29, 2013
Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Notre Dame 87, Canisius 81 (OT)
December 29, 2013
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center – Notre Dame, Ind.
– With today’s win, Notre Dame improved to 20-4 all-time against Canisius, including a 4-0 mark under head coach Mike Brey … the Fighting Irish have won the last seven meetings in the series … Canisius is 0-8 at Notre Dame.
– The Fighting Irish have won seven of their last eight overtime games, including four straight … Notre Dame improved to 14-9 in overtime contests under head coach Mike Brey … this was Notre Dame’s first overtime game since an 82-78 win over DePaul on Feb. 13, 2013.
– Senior point guard Eric Atkins scored a career-high 30 points … he is the first Irish player to score 30 points since Tim Abromaitis and Ben Hansbrough both netted 30 against Villanova on Feb. 28, 2011.
– Notre Dame trailed 33-31 at halftime … the Irish are 1-4 this season when trailing at the intermission.
– Notre Dame improved to 49-7 all-time against teams currently in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) … that includes a 12-0 mark under head coach Mike Brey … Notre Dame has won 15 straight games versus MAAC opponents … the Fighting Irish are 30-1 at home against MAAC competition.
– Eric Atkins (Sr./G), Pat Connaughton (Jr./G), Demetrius Jackson (Fr./G), Tom Knight (GS/F) and Garrick Sherman (Sr./C) started today’s contest … it was the first time this season that quintet has started … Atkins, Connaughton and Sherman have started all 13 games this season … Jackson has started eight games, while Knight has five starts.
– Notre Dame was 1-of-7 from three-point range in the first half, but was 7-of-12 from long distance in the second half and overtime.
– The Fighting Irish are 3-1 this season when wearing gold uniforms.
– A three-pointer from Eric Atkins in the first half upped Notre Dame’s streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 490.
Eric Atkins (Sr./G) – Scored a career-high 30 points … his previous high was 27 against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 12, 2011. – Scored in double-figures for the ninth time this season and for the 58th time of his career. – Made a career-high six three-pointers (on eight attempts) … the six treys are the most for an Irish player since Pat Connaughton made six against Marquette in the quarterfinals of last season’s BIG EAST Championship. – Shot 10-of-14 from the field … the 10 field goals were a career-high mark. – Played all 45 minutes.
Zach Auguste (So./F) – Reached double-figures in points (12) for the third time this season and for the fifth time of his career. – Shot 5-of-7 from the field and pulled down eight rebounds.
V.J. Beachem (Fr./F) – Scored a career-high six points (previous high was three versus Stetson).
Garrick Sherman (Sr./C) – Notched his third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds (also third career double-double). – Upped his career-best double-figure scoring streak to 10 games, which is the longest streak for the Irish this season … has scored in double-figures in 11 games this season and 21 times in his career (20 at Notre Dame).
Steve Vasturia (Fr./G) – Scored a career-high five points (previous high was three on two occasions).