Dec. 27, 2011

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2011-12 Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
Notre Dame 72, #22/22 Pittsburgh 59
December 27, 2011
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center o Notre Dame, Ind.

Post-Game Notes

  • Tonight was the 57th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. The Fighting Irish lead the series 30-27. Notre Dame has won its last four games against Pittsburgh. That is Notre Dame’s longest win streak ever against Pittsburgh. Irish head coach Mike Brey is 10-8 against the Panthers during his Notre Dame tenure.
  • Tonight’s victory upped Notre Dame’s home win streak to 28 games. That is the second longest Irish win streak inside Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in program history. The Fighting Irish won 45 straight at the Joyce Center from March 4, 2006-Jan. 10, 2009. Notre Dame’s last home loss was a 69-68 setback to St. John’s on Feb. 14, 2010.
  • Notre Dame improved to 11-6 all-time in BIG EAST Conference openers, including an 8-4 mark under head coach Mike Brey. The Fighting Irish have won their last six BIG EAST openers.
  • Eric Atkins (So./G), Jack Cooley (Jr./F), Alex Dragicevich (So./G), Jerian Grant (So./G) and Scott Martin (Sr./G-) started tonight’s contest. It was the third straight game – and third time overall this season – that quintet has started. Grant and Martin both have a team-high 13 starts this season.
  • With his career-high 22 points, sophomore guard Alex Dragicevich became the seventh Notre Dame player to score 20 or more points in a game this season. The other Irish players to net at least 20 points in a game this season are Tim Abromaitis, Eric Atkins, Pat Connaughton, Jack Cooley, Jerian Grant and Scott Martin.
  • Notre Dame trailed 26-25 at halftime. The Irish are 2-5 this season when trailing at the intermission. Notre Dame’s other win this season when trailing at halftime was against Detroit (Nov. 14) when the Irish overcame a 31-28 intermission deficit to win 59-53.
  • Notre Dame shot 72.0% (18-25) from the field in the second half. That was Notre Dame’s best shooting percentage all-time in the second half of a BIG EAST game … the previous best was 71.4% against Georgetown on Feb. 27, 2010.
  • The Irish held Pittsburgh to 1-14 (7.1%) shooting from three-point range for the game.
  • The Fighting Irish had just six turnovers. Notre Dame has committed fewer than 10 turnovers in a game seven times this season.
  • A Jerian Grant three-pointer early in the first half upped Notre Dame’s streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 422.
  • Notre Dame improved to 39-62 against ranked opponents under head coach Mike Brey. Tonight was Notre Dame’s first win against a ranked opponent since topping #25/- Cincinnati, 89-51, during the quarterfinals of the 2011 BIG EAST Championship (March 10, 2011).
  • The Irish are 63-15 in December under head coach Mike Brey.

Eric Atkins (So./G)

  • Scored in double-figures (15 points) for the ninth time this season
  • Hauled down a season-high five rebounds … his previous season-high was four on four occasions

Jack Cooley (Jr./F)

  • Pulled down 14 rebounds … he has a team-best four double-digit rebound games this season … it was his first career double-digit rebound effort in a BIG EAST game

Alex Dragicevich (So./G)

  • Scored a career-high 22 points … it was his sixth double-digit scoring effort of the season and his first career double-digit performance in a BIG EAST game
  • Made a career-high four three-pointers (on seven attempts) … his previous career-high was three on three occasions

Jerian Grant (So./G)

  • Scored in double-figures (15 points) for the 11th time this season … that is a team-best total
  • Dished out a career-high nine assists … his previous high was seven on three occasions