Jan. 21, 2014
Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Postgame Notes
Florida State 76, Notre Dame 74
January 21, 2014
Donald L. Tucker Center – Tallahassee, Fla.
– This was the second meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Florida State … the Seminoles won the first encounter, 71-57, during the third round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament in Chicago.
– Eric Atkins (Sr./G), Pat Connaughton (Jr./G), Demetrius Jackson (Fr./G), Austin Burgett (So./F) and Garrick Sherman (Sr./C) started tonight’s contest … it was the second straight game and second time overall this season this quintet has started … the Fighting Irish are 1-1 with this starting five … Atkins, Connaughton and Sherman have started all 19 games this season … Jackson has started the last 14 contests, while it was the third start of the season (and career) for Burgett.
– Eric Atkins (24) and Garrick Sherman (21) both eclipsed the 20-point barrier … it marked the third time this season (first time in an ACC game) Notre Dame had two players score 20-plus points in the same game … it was the second time Atkins and Sherman topped the 20-point plateau in the same contest … they also did it at Iowa on Dec. 3.
– Notre Dame trailed 41-33 at halftime … the Irish are 2-7 this season when trailing at the intermission.
– The Irish held a 29-26 rebound edge, including 12-6 in offensive boards … Irish had a 17-9 advantage in second-chance points.
– Notre Dame only committed seven turnovers … it marked the ninth time this season (third in ACC play) that the Irish had fewer than 10 turnovers in a game.
– Florida State shot 58.0% (29-50) from the floor … that is the highest percentage for an Irish opponent this season.
– The Fighting Irish are 0-3 this season when wearing blue uniforms.
– A three-pointer from Austin Burgett in the first half upped Notre Dame’s streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 496.
Eric Atkins (Sr./G)
– Scored a game-high 24 points to up his career-best double-figure scoring streak to eight games … has reached double-figures 15 times this season and 64 times during his career. – This was his fourth 20-plus point game of the season and his second in an ACC contest (20 at Georgia Tech) … he has netted 20 or more points in a game eight times in his career. – Dished out a game-high five assists.
Pat Connaughton (Jr./G-F)
– Pulled down 10 rebounds … has five double-figure rebounding efforts this season (eight in his career). – Finished with nine points.
Garrick Sherman (Sr./C)
– Registered his team-best sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds … all six double-doubles have occurred in the last 11 games … has three double-doubles in ACC play. – Netted 20-plus points for the third time this season (second time in ACC play) … has four 20-plus point efforts in his career (all at Notre Dame). – Scored in double-figures for the 15th time in the last 16 games … has 16 double-digit efforts this season and 26 in his career (25 at Notre Dame).