Jan. 14, 2012

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2011-12 Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
#17/16 Connecticut 67, Notre Dame 53
January 14, 2012
Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center – Notre Dame, Ind.

– Today was the 26th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Connecticut. The Huskies have a 17-9 advantage in the series. The Irish had won three straight against UConn prior to today.

– Today’s loss snapped Notre Dame’s 29-game home win streak. That was the fourth-longest in the nation and 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. That streak came to an end in a 69-61 loss to Connecticut on Jan. 24, 2009.

– Prior to today, Notre Dame’s last home loss was a 69-68 setback to St. John’s on Feb. 14, 2010.

– Notre Dame is 3-2 against Connecticut when the Huskies are the defending national champion. The Fighting Irish are 10-26 all-time against defending national champions.

– Today’s 53 points were the fewest for Notre Dame in a home game during the Mike Brey era (12 seasons). The previous low was 54 against Charleston Southern in a 54-38 win on Nov. 26, 2004.

Eric Atkins (So./G), Jack Cooley (Jr./F), Alex Dragicevich (So./G), Jerian Grant (So./G) and Scott Martin (Sr./G) started today’s contest. It was the seventh straight game – and seventh time overall this season – that quintet has started. It is the most-used starting lineup for the Irish this season. Notre Dame is 4-3 when that quintet starts. Grant and Martin both have a team-high 17 starts this season (out of 18 games played).

– Notre Dame only committed eight turnovers in today’s game. The Irish have committed fewer than 10 turnovers in a game eight times this season.

– The Fighting Irish led 25-24 at halftime. Today was Notre Dame’s first loss this season when leading at halftime. The Irish are 8-1 this season when leading at the intermission.

– The Irish are 2-4 against ranked opponents this season.

– Notre Dame is 10-1 at home and 1-6 in road/neutral site contests this season.

– An Eric Atkins three-pointer early in the first half upped Notre Dame’s streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 426.

Eric Atkins (So./G)
– Tallied a game-high 20 points … those are the most points he’s ever scored in a BIG EAST game … the previous high was 15 on three occasions, including twice this season (Pittsburgh & Louisville) … he has scored in double-figures 11 times this season (out of 16 games played) … today was his third 20-plus point game of the season … that is the most for any Irish player this season – Today marked the sixth time he’s led the Irish in scoring this season … that is a team-best total

Scott Martin (Sr./G)
– Scored in double-figures (12 points) for the third straight game and for the eighth time this season