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• Tonight’s game marked the first time the Irish started the season with a national ranking since the 2000-01 team opened 15th in the AP poll.
• Notre Dame improved to 81-18 (.818) in all-time season openers, including 4-0 in the Mike Brey era and 30-6 in Joyce Center home openers (.833) … the Irish now have won their last five season openers.
• The Irish now are 15-1 in Nov. during the Brey era, with the lone loss coming to Creighton on Nov. 26, 2002 (75-80).
• Since a loss to Syracuse late in the 2001-02 season, ND is 17-2 in its last 19 games at the Joyce Center (losses last season to UConn and Syracuse) … the Irish are 36-10 at home in the Brey era (.783), 86-29 in the last eight seasons (.748) and 421-124 all-time at the Joyce Center (.773).
• The Irish now are 67-31 (.685) overall in the Mike Brey era, with next week’s game at Marquette (Dec. 1) slated to be the 100th game of the Brey era … since losing three straight games in mid-January 2002, the Irish now are 31-11 in their last 42 regular-season games (.738).
• Sophomore G Chris Quinn – who totaled just three double-digit scoring games as a freshman – set his career-high in scoring by halftime of tonight’s game (13 points) while matching two others career-highs with five steals and three 3-pointers, en route to 18 points, six steals and three 3s … his previous career-bests were 12 points vs. Marquette, five steals vs. Albany and three 3s vs. Creighton … tonight also marked Quinn’s first double-digit scoring effort in the last 16 games.
• Junior G Chris Thomas posted double-digit points for the 56th time in 68 career games with the Irish (ND is just 6-6 when he fails to crack double-digits, 41-11 when he scores 10-plus) … Thomas has put up double digits in 21 straight games (since scoring five in a loss at Pittsburgh) and has 10-plus points in 31 of the last 33.
• Sophomore F Torin Francis scored 24 points (one shy of his career-high, set in the ’03 NCAAs vs. Arizona) and grabbed 19 rebounds (also one shy of another career-high, posted v. Bucknell) … Francis registered the 11th double-double of his ND career and third in the last four official games (also vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Arizona in the ’03 NCAAs) … he also hit 20-plus points for the fifth time in his ND career (scoring 20-plus in three of the last four games) and has scored double-digits in 20 of 35 career games … he has averaged 19.2 ppg in his last five games (also 19 vs. St. John’s, 23 vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 5 vs. Illinois, 25 vs. Arizona).
• Notre Dame wasted little time in extending its streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 148 … the last time an ND team failed to hit a three-pointer was vs. Connecticut on Jan. 12, 1999 (at the Hartford Civic Center).

RECORD BOOK UPDATE

• Chris Thomas – His 17-point night moved him to 29th on the ND career scoring list (1,170), passing Ron Reed and Orlando Woolridge (next up is Dave Batton, at 1,205) … his seven assists pushed him closer to 500 for his career (495, fifth all-time and 21 behind Elmer Bennett) … David Rivers totaled 428 assists in his first three seasons with the Irish – with Thomas surpassing that total by the middle of his sophomore season … Thomas ranks 10th all-time in scoring among ND guards, behind: Austin Carr, David Rivers, Matt Carroll, Elmer Bennett, Duck Williams, Daimon Sweet, John Paxson, Ryan Hoover and Rich Branning (1,232) … Carr is the only other guard to reach the 1,000-point milestone in his second season with the Irish.
• Junior F Jordan Cornette’s three blocks gives him 95 for his career, still fifth in ND history and just two behind 1997 graduate Matt Gotsch.
• Sophomore F Torin Francis posted 4-plus blocks for the sixth time in his career while pushing his career block total to 65 – passing Marcus Young and Pat Garrity while tying two others (Keith Tower and Ken Barlow) for ninth on the ND career blocks list (next up is Tracy Jackson, with 75) … only three previous ND players have totaled more blocks in their first two seasons of college basketball than Francis (65): Cornette (92), Laphonso Ellis (90, from ’88-’90) and Troy Murphy (76; ’98-’00).