Riding a 10-game win streak, Notre Dame men's basketball team faces its first BIG EAST road test of the season when it travels to No.
15/16 Marquette in the 109th meeting between the two schools.
Notre Dame (12-2, 2-0 BIG EAST)
vs.
(15/16) Marquette (12-2, 2-1 BIG EAST)
Saturday, January 12, 2008 * 2:00 p.m. (EST)
Bradley Center (11,418) * Milwaukee, Wis.
MEDIA INFORMATION
Television: ESPN Regional: Lou Canellis (play-by-play analyst), Mike
Kelley (color analyst). Game will be shown locally in South Bend on
WMYS (Channel 69), WBND (Channel 57) and WCWW (Channel 25).
Radio: Jack Nolan (play-by-play analyst)
LaPhonso Ellis (color analyst)
Notre Dame Sports Properties originates the Notre Dame Radio Network
which includes:
WLS 890 AM in Chicago, Ill. (Chicagoland area and
Midwest); WZOW 97.7 FM and 102.3 FM in South Bend, Ind.;
ESPN 950 AM in Indianapolis, Ind.;
WLYV 1450 AM in Fort Wayne, Ind. and Northeast, Ind.;
WLUV 96.7 AM in Rockford and DeKalb, Ill., and Beloit and Janesville, Wis.;
WLUV 1520 AM in Rockford and DeKalb, Ill., and Beloit and Janesville, Wis.;
WEFM 95.9 FM in Michigan City and Gary, Ind.;
ESPN (WRSW) 1480 AM in Warsaw, Ind.;
WAMW 107.9 FM
and 1580 AM in Washington, Ind., Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 159
and www.und.com.
Real-Time Stats: Live in-game statistics are available for all home
games, via the Notre Dame athletic website (www.und.com).
Notre Dame vs. Marquette
Following a week off, the Notre Dame men's basketball
returns to action when it plays its first BIG EAST road game of the
season in Saturday's matchup against Marquette at the Bradley Center.
Notre Dame registered its 10th straight win last Saturday
night against Connecticut with a 73-67 win over the Huskies as the
Irish improved to 12-2 overall and 2-0 in BIG EAST play. Coach Mike
Brey's squad has not lost since dropping back-to-back games against
Baylor and Georgia Tech at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin
Islands on November 18 and 19.
Notre Dame is off to a 2-0 start in conference play for the
fourth time since becoming a leage member in 1995-96, while no Irish
team has ever started league play with a 3-0 record. The other three
times that Notre Dame has started off 2-0 in the BIG EAST was
1999-2000, 2003-04 and 2004-05.
This afternoon's contest is the first of two matchups
between the two schools during the BIG EAST regular season and the
109th overall. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 76-32. The
Irish have played the Golden Eagles more times than any other
opponent in its 103-year history and have met on three occasions as
conference foes.
Notre Dame's win over Connecticut extended Notre Dame's
school-record win streak to 30 games at the Joyce Center which
includes 11 straight versus BIG EAST foes. The Irish finished with
a perfect 8-0 record at home during the 2006-07 campaign during
league play.
Notre Dame's 11 consecutive wins at home versus conference
foes is the longest for an Irish team since becoming a league member
in 1995-96.
After tying the school record of 24 straight victories
against Eastern Michigan on December 1, the Irish broke the 30-plus
year record with its win over Northern Illinois on December 8. The
Irish have not lost at the Joyce Center since February 25, 2006 with
an 80-72 setback to Marquette.
Notre Dame opened BIG EAST play with two home games which
marked the first time since the joining the league that the Irish
played its first two conference games at home.
Bradley Center Tough On The Irish
Notre Dame is 32-21 all-time when playing Marquette in
Milwaukee, but have only played at the Bradley Center on four
occasions. The Irish are 1-3 in those outings with its only victory
coming in its first-ever visit, a 68-58 win on February 17, 1994. In
its last visit, the Golden Eagles handed Notre Dame a 67-65 setback
on January 20, 2006.
Success On And Off The Court
The 2007 fall semester grades are in and the Irish once
again achieved great success in the classroom with the team compiling
an overall 3.135 grade point average for the semester which marked
the sixth time in eighth semesters that the Irish finished with a
combined 3.00 or better. Nine of 14 players earned a 3.000 or better
- Tim Abromaitis (3.500), Tim Andree (3.479), Ryan Ayers (3.067),
Luke Harangody (3.250), Zach Hillesland (3.654), Tory Jackson
(3.333), Tom Kopko (3.733), Tyrone Nash (3.000) and Luke Zeller
(3.500).
Series Record vs. Marquette
Notre Dame has played Marquette more than any other team
and leads the all-time series 76-32. The Golden Eagles have had
success in recent years and are 6-3 in the last nine outings. The
Irish were victorious the last time the two teams played with an
85-73 win last season at the Joyce Center on February 24, 2007.
Notre Dame In The Top 20 Of NCAA Statistics
Notre Dame ranks in the top 20 of the NCAA statistics in
four categores: assists (4th-19.8); rebounding margin (7th-10.2) and
field goal percentage defense (18th-.379).
No Lineup Changes
Notre Dame's starting lineup of fowards Rob Kurz and Luke
Harangody and guards Ryan Ayers, Tory Jackson and Kyle McAlarney have
been the starting five in all 14 games for the Irish. In fact, only
Zach Hillesland (one game vs. North Florida) and Ty Proffitt (four
games vs. Long Island, Monmouth, Baylor and Georgia Tech) have missed
games due to injury. Hillesland was held out of the Monday's game
against North Florida with an ankle sprain, while Proffitt missed
four games due to a groin injury suffered in practice.
Now That's Something To Talk About
Notre Dame's current record-setting 30-game home win
streak spans three seasons - the final two games played during the
2005-06 campaign, the entire 2006-07 season and 10 games in 2007-08.
Here's a look at the dominance of the Irish during its present win
streak:
Notre Dame
Opponents
FG Percentage
853-1765 (.483)
697-1804 (.386)
3-FG Percentage
265-642 (.413)
189-567 (.333)
Points/Avg.
2,513 (83.8 ppg.)
1,890 (63.0 ppg.)
Margin of Victory
+623 points (+20.8)
Notes: Notre Dame has shot .500 or better in 14 of 29 games
Notre Dame opponents have shot .500 or better in 3 of 30 games
23 wins by 10-plus points
13 wins by 20-plus points
9 wins by 30-plus points
5 wins by 40-plus points
1 win by 50-plus points
Staying Ahead
Notre Dame has not trailed at halftime of a game this
season and has only trailed at home for 6:13 of a possible 400
minutes. The largest deficit for the Irish this season was against
Baylor (67-62) with 13 seconds to play in the contest.
Hot Stuff
Since returning from the three games in the Virgin Islands
where Notre Dame shot 33.9 percent against Baylor and 40.7 percent
versus Georgia Tech in its final two games, Notre Dame has shot
288-608 (.474) from the field and 90-206 (.437) from three-point
range. Against Northern Illinois, the Irish connected on a
season-best 62.1 percent (36-58) from the field and a season-high
56.0 percent (14-25) from three-point range.
Valuing The Basketball
In its back-to-back wins over Colgate and Eastern
Michigan, Notre Dame committed just eight and nine turnovers,
respectively, marking the only time this season that the Irish had
fewer than 10 turnovers in back-to-back contests. In the Irish win
over Brown on December 29, the Irish had seven turnovers, including
just one in the first half. Two of the strengths of Notre Dame
basketball teams under head coach Mike Brey have been distributing
and taking care of the basketball. The Irish are averaging 19.8
assists per game and 13.0 turnovers for a 1.52 assists-to-turnover
ratio. Notre Dame has dished off 20 or more assists in six games
this season.
Double The Pleasure
Luke Harangody posted three consecutive double-doubles for
the first time in his career in wins over Kansas State, Northern
Illinois and San Francisco and in six of the last 10 games. During
the three-game streak, he had 19 points and a then career-high 14
boards versus Kansas State, netted 14 points and grabbed 12 boards
versus Northern Illinois and finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds
against San Francisco.
Haranogdy registered his best performance ever in an Irish
uniform with career-highs of 29 and 16 rebounds versus West Virginia.
He connected on 11-16 shots from the field and made good on his first
seven field goal attempts.
For the second time in his career Rob Kurz registered
back-to-back double-doubles with 15 points and 11 rebounds versus
Brown and a season-high 23 points and career-high 13 boards against
North Florida. Last season, Kurz had consecutive double-doubles
versus Alabama, Elon and Portland. He has five doubles this season
and 16 during his career.
Record-Setting Home Performance
Notre Dame put an exclamation point on its record-setting
25th consecutive win at the Joyce Center on December 8. In the
108-62 win over Northern Illinois, the 108 points were the most
points scored by the Irish under head coach Mike Brey in a regulation
games (ND scored 116 vs. Georgetown in a four overtime contest in
2002), while the 46-point margin of victory was the third-largest
during the Brey era. In addition, Notre Dame shot a blistering 72.0
percent from the field in the first half which marked the best
shooting performance by an Irish team in the first half under Brey.
The Irish also owned a 52-27 advantage on the boards.
Tough Tory
Tory Jackson suffered a cornea abrasion in his right eye
late in the first half of last Saturday night's win over Connecticut.
Jackson returned to play all 20 minutes of the second half and
finished the game with 11 assists (matching a career-high), six
points, seven rebounds and four steals. He hit two key free throws
with 1:52 to play which gave the Irish a six-point lead.
McAlarney Shines On The Big Stage
Staten Island native Kyle McAlarney made his return to New
York City and Madison Square Garden a happy one on December 4 as he
led his Irish to a 68-59 victory over Kansas State. McAlarney
finished with 18 points in the contest on 6-13 shooting from the
field (2-5 from three-point range). He scored 14 points in the
second, including nine straight in the final 2:10 of the contest.
McAlarney nailed a three-pointer with 1:30 to play and converted four
key free throws down the stretch.
McAlarney Shines - Part II
Kyle McAlarney netted a career-high 32 points in the win
over Connecticut last Saturday night which was the first 30-plus
performance of his career and the first time this season that an
Irish player had topped the 30-point. He was 13-19 from the field
and 6-7 from three-point range. The Notre Dame player to scored
30-plus points in a game was Russell Carter (32 points in a 71-68
loss to St. John's at Madison Square Garden on January 23, 2007).
Unstoppable Luke
Luke Harangody leads the Irish in scoring and rebounding
averaging 18.2 points and 9.5 rebounds. He leads the team with seven
doubles and owns a 12-game double-figure scoring streak - the longest
on the team and in his career. He has netted double figures in all
but one game (Monmouth) and has finished with 10 or more rebounds in
seven games. Harangody also tops the Irish with six games of 20 or
more points.
Twenty Something
Luke Harangody's string of three consecutive games with
20-plus points ended against Colgate when he finished with 11 points
and seven rebounds in 19 minutes of action. Prior to that game, he
had registered 20-plus points in three consecutive games - Baylor
(22), Georgia Tech (22) and Youngstown State (25) for the first time
in his career.
Kyle McAlarney also had a three-game 20-plus point outing
streak of his own that came to end against Kansas State. McAlarney
registered his first 20-point outing of the season against Youngstown
State when he tallied 23 points (a then career best). He followed
that up with another career-high outing for the second time in as
many games when tallied 25 points versus Colgate. In the Eastern
Michigan outing, McAlarney led the Irish for the second straight game
with a 21-point performance.
The last Irish player to score 20-plus points in three
consecutive outings was Russell Carter during the 2006-07 campaign
when he netted 27 against Alabama, 21 versus Elon and 28 against
Portland.
The last Irish player to net 20-plus points in four
consecutive outings was Chris Thomas in 2003-04 (his junior year)
versus Pittsburgh (23 points), Connecticut (31 points), Seton Hall
(26 points) and Syracuse (25 points).
McAlarney Finds The Range
Since returning from St. Thomas, USVI, Kyle McAlarney has
been a key to Notre Dame's success. In the last 10 games, the Irish
junior guard is averaging 17.8 points (178 points). He has shot
59-120 (.492) percent from the field and 38-77 (.494) from
three-point range. He is coming off his best performance in an Irish
uniform in Notre Dame's win over Connecticut as he netted a
career-high 32 points, hitting 13-19 from the field and 6-7 from
three-point range. In back-to-back wins over Youngstown State and
Colgate, McAlarney recorded consecutive then career-high outings. In
the 87-75 victory over the Penguins, he connected on 6-13 shots from
the field and was 5-10 from three-points en route to a then personal
best 23-point performance. He followed that up with a career-high
25-point effort against Colgate in the 94-63 win as he connected on
8-12 shots from the field and was 7-10 from three-point range and
then was 8-10 from the field and 5-7 from beyond the stripe in the
victory over Eastern Michigan and connected on 6-10 from the field
and 5-9 from beyond the arc against Northern Illinois. McAlarney
then added 14 points in a 84-76 win over San Francisco, adding two
assists while going 2-6 from beyond the three-point arc and 6-7 from
the charity stripe.
McAlarney was just 9-31 (.290) from the field and 5-17 (.294)
from three-point range in Notre Dame's three games at the Paradise
Jam.
One Is A Lonely Number
Rob Kurz is the lone senior among the 14 players on this
year's Irish roster. The last time Notre Dame had only one senior on
the roster was during the 1983-84 when Cecil Rucker was the only
senior member of that team that consisted of four juniors, five
sophomores and three freshmen. The 1988-89 Irish squad featured no
seniors on that team and was comprised of five juniors, two
sophomores and five freshmen.
Elite Company
Notre Dame joined an elite group last year when it
registered its 1,600th win against Providence on February 15, 2007.
In its 103rd season, Notre Dame has 1,616 victories. Only 12 other
schools have reached the mark: Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas,
Duke, Syracuse, Temple, St. John's, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Utah and
UCLA.
Eight Straight Postseason Appearances
Notre Dame's appearance in last year's NCAA tournament
field marks the fourth NCAA berth for the Irish in seven years.
Since 2000, Notre Dame has appeared in either the NCAA or NIT
tournaments each of the last eight years. The Irish played in the
2000 NIT and then earned consecutive NCAA tournament berths - 2001,
'02, '03 - followed by NIT appearances in '04, '05 and '06. This
current postseason streak matches the longest stretch since making
eight straight from 1983-90 (NIT in 1983 and '84 and NCAA from
1985-90).
Four 20-Win Seasons Under His Belt
Notre Dame's 24-8 campaign a year ago marked the fourth
time in seven seasons under head coach Mike Brey that the Irish won
20-plus games. The 24 wins also equaled the most for Notre Dame
during the Brey era. Notre Dame's 20-win campaigns under Brey have
been in 2000-01 (20-10), 2001-02 (22-11) and 2002-03 (24-10). In the
102-year history of the program, Notre Dame teams have won 20 or more
games on 31 occasions.
Monmouth Notables
The 33 points allowed by Notre Dame were the fewest ever
under head coach Mike Brey and the eight points in the second half
were the fewest ever by an Irish team in a half since the inception
of the three-point shot.
The 33 points allowed were also the fewest given up by a
Notre Dame team since January 4, 1950 in a 54-33 win at home against
Butler. It also marked the fewest points scored by an Irish opponent
in a road or neutral site game since Kentucky's 34-28 win over the
Irish on December 29, 1981 in Louisville, Ky.
The 43-point margin of victory was the matched the
seventh-highest for an Irish team under Mike Brey.
"D" The Key Against Monmouth
En route to its 76-33 victory over Monmouth on November 16,
Notre Dame held the Hawks without a point in the final 10:31 of the
contest and outscored Monmouth 23-0 down the stretch. In fact, the
Irish held the Hawks to just eight points in the second half and just
11 points overall in the final 24:52 of the contest. Notre Dame also
limited Monmouth to just nine field goal attempts (all misses) in the
final 8:17 of the game.
Defense Shines In First Two Games ...
While offense has always been a staple under head coach
Mike Brey, Notre Dame's defense keyed Notre Dame's first two wins.
The Irish allowed just 41.5 points per game and held opponents to
27.2 percent shooting from the field and 20.5 percent from
three-point range. Notre Dame owned a +19.5 advantage on the boards
and outscored its first two opponents a combined 82-35 in the second
half.
But Defense Struggles Against Baylor And Georgia Tech
In Notre Dame's last two outings, which resulted in losses
to Baylor and Georgia Tech, the Irish allowed 138 points (69.0 ppg.)
and allowed the Bears and Yellow Jackets to shoot a combined 51-115
(.443) from the field and 18-39 (.462) from three-point range. The
Irish also were outrebounded in both contests.
Irish Offense Struggled Against Bears and Yellow Jackets
Notre Dame struggled on offense in its two losses versus
Baylor and Georgia Tech. Against the Yellow Jackets, the Irish were
just 20-59 from the field (.339) and connected on just 7-19 (.368)
from three-point range. In the second half, Notre Dame was only 8-28
from the field (.286).
In the loss to Georgia Tech, the Irish hit on 40.7 percent
of its shots (22-54) and were only 5-16 (.313) from three-point range.
Notre Dame averaged just 12.0 assists in the two games and
turned the ball over 29 times (14.5).
Lost Leads Down The Stretch
In its first two wins of the season, Notre Dame never
trailed in either contest. In fact, the Irish have only trailed 10:32
of a possible 450 minutes this season.
Against Baylor, the Irish led by as many as 14 points in
the first half after jumping out to a 8-0 lead. The Bears took their
first lead (61-60) of the contest with 3:15 remaining in the contest.
It also marked the first time Notre Dame had trailed in a game all
season long. The Irish regained the lead briefly at 62-61 with 1:33
left on the clock before the Bears closed the game with a 7-2 run to
close the game.
In the loss to Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets grabbed a
four-point lead early on, but Notre Dame's basket at the 16:54 mark
would give the Irish the advantage until the final two seconds of the
contest. The Yellow Jackets trailed by nine (62-53) with 5:11 to play
before outscoring Notre Dame 17-7 down the stretch.
In Notre Dame's win over Youngstown State, the Irish led by
25 with 11:41 left in the game, but were outscored 31-18 in the final
11-plus minutes of the contest before holding on for the 87-75
victory.
* In the Irish's win over San Francicso at the Joyce Center, the
Irish led by 23 points with 7:24 left in the first half and led by
only 14 at halftime, before winning by only eight points.
Quietly Goes About His Business
Perhaps no player in the Irish lineup is as steady as Rob
Kurz. The senior forward is the team's second-leading scorer and
second-leading rebounder and has scored in double figures in all but
three contests. He has recorded five double-doubles with a
season-high 23 points and career-high 13 boards coming in wins over
North Florida and West Virginia. Kurz is shooting 51.3 percent
(60-117) from the field and 50.0 (15-30) from three-point range.
Zach Attack Off The Bench
As he was a year ago, junior forward Zach Hillesland has
been a spark for the Irish off the bench. He is averaging 5.9 points
and 5.3 rebounds and has scored in double figures in two games and
grabbed five or more rebounds in 10 of the 13 contests he has played.
He recorded back-to-back double-figure scoring outings for the first
time in his career against Georgia Tech (12 points) and Youngstown
State (10 points). He had a season-high nine boards in the win over
Kansas State. Hillesland is shooting 47.2 percent (25-53) from the
field.
'AYERS' Ball
Junior Ryan Ayers is off to the best start in his career
shooting 44.6 percent from the field (42-92) and 49.2 percent (29-59)
from three-point range. His 8.6 points per game also mark a career
best. Last year, he began the season 0-12 from the field before
hitting his first field goal in the sixth game of the year. Heading
into this season, he owned a 38.5 career field goal percentage and
37.5 percent mark from three-point range. Ayers netted a career-high
13 points against Monmouth and Brown and has reached double figures
in four games.
Zeller Matches Career High Against Colgate
Luke Zeller had his second double-figure scoring outing of
the season and the sixth of his career in Notre Dame's win over
Colgate on November 26. He matched his career-high with 14 points as
he finished 5-8 from the field and 4-5 from three-point range in 16
minutes off the bench. In addition, Zeller grabbed four rebounds in
the contest. He is averaging 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds this season.
Home Cookin'
Notre Dame's 18-0 record at home last season marked just
the third time since the opening of the Joyce Center in 1968-69 that
an Irish team finished undefeated at home during the regular season.
It also marked the most wins ever for a Notre Dame team in a single
season. Only two other Notre Dame squads ever completed a season
undefeated at home - the 1973-74 and 1985-86 squads both finished
their campaigns with identical 15-0 records. The Irish were the only
BIG EAST team to finish the season undefeated at home. Dating back to
the 2005-06 campaign, Notre Dame has won 30 consecutive games at home
following the win over Connecticut on January 5 - an active streak
that is third among all Division I teams and is the longest in school
history as well as the longest during Mike Brey's tenure.
Notre Dame's current streak dates back to the final two
games of the 2005-06 campaign as Irish defeated DePaul (66-61) in the
regular-season finale and Vanderbilt (79-69) in the first round of
the NIT. Notre Dame's last loss at home was an 80-72 setback to
Marquette on February 25, 2006.
Current NCAA Division I Home Court Win Streaks:
1. Memphis 41
9. Mississippi 15
2. BYU 39
10. Texas A&M 14
3. NOTRE DAME 30
11. Georgetown 13
4. Indiana 26
San Diego State 13
5. Tennessee 24
Valporaiso 13
6. Holy Cross 23
14. Houston 12
7. Akron 18
Missouri 12
8. Kansas 16
Nebraska 12
Joyce Center Streakin'
Notre Dame broke the Joyce Center home win streak mark on
December 8 with its 108-62 win over Northern Illinois. Here's a look
at the Joyce Center streaks:
30 - Began with a 66-61 win over DePaul on 3/4/06 (current streak)
24 - Began with a 94-68 win over Xavier on 2/3/73 and ended
with a 94-84 loss to Indiana on 12/11/74
22 - Began with an 88-68 win over Pittsburgh on 1/26/77 and
ended with a 69-68 overtime loss to DePaul on 2/12/78
16 - Began with a 92-70 win over Fairfield on 12/9/82 and
ended with a 51-47 loss to UCLA on 12/3/83
16 - Began with an 89-76 win over West Virginia on 2/20/02
and ended with a 87-79 loss to Connecticut on 2/24/03.
The Irish All-Time
The 2007-08 men's basketball campaign marks the 103rd
season of basketball and 13th as a member of the BIG EAST Conference.
In 102-plus seasons, Irish teams have posted a 1617-887 record for a
.646 winning percentage. In BIG EAST play, Notre Dame owns a 103-99
(.510) record all-time in conference regular-season play.
Always In It
Since the 2005-06 campaign, Notre Dame's 24 losses have
been by a combined 121 points for an average of 5.0 points per game.
The 14 setbacks in '05-'06 were by a total of 59 points (4.2
points). The only double-digit loss was to North Carolina State
(61-47). The Irish suffered 10 BIG EAST losses during the regular
season and those were by a combined 35 points (3.5).
Putting Up The Points And Winning Impressively
Notre Dame averaged 81.0 points per game last season, the
best points per game average ever under Mike Brey, and are once again
near that point total at 79.6 ppg. Notre Dame has topped 80-plus
points on six occasions, 90-plus points twice and the century mark
once.
Keeping It Close
In the 80 losses suffered by Irish teams in Mike Brey's
seven seasons, only 19 have been by 10 or more points and have been
by a combined 520 for an average of 6.5 points per game. Notre Dame's
18-point loss (66-48) to Georgetown in 2006-07 was the largest ever
for an Irish team under Brey.
18-Game BIG EAST Slate
Notre Dame will play Connecticut, DePaul and Marquette
twice as part of its 2007-08 18-game BIG EAST men's basketball
conference slate. The league is employing an 18-game schedule this
year with all teams playing each other at least once and three
opponents twice (home and away). The BIG EAST utilized the 16-game
slate since the 1999-00 campaign and has not played an 18-game
conference schedule since 1998-99 when the league had 13 members. The
format was used for eight years from 1991-99.
BIG EAST Formula For Success Under Brey
Since his arrival at Notre Dame, Mike Brey has led Notre
Dame to a 68-46 (.596) record in BIG EAST regular-season games and a
3-7 mark in tournament play for an overall record of 71-53 (.573)
against league foes. In Brey's first season, the Irish posted their
first-ever winning record in BIG EAST play and won the BIG EAST West
Division title with an 11-5 mark. Prior to Brey's arrival at Notre
Dame, Irish teams had a 35-53 (.398) regular-season record since
joining the league in 1995-96.
284 And Counting
Heading into today's game against Marquette, Notre Dame has
hit at least one three-pointer in 284 straight games, a mark that
dates back to the 1998-99 campaign. The last time an Irish team
failed to hit a three-pointer was a 101-70 loss to Connecticut at the
Hartford Civic Center on Jan. 12, 1999 as Notre Dame finished 0-7
from beyond the arc in the game. The 2005-06 Irish squad set the
single-season record with 288 three-pointers and fell just one field
goal short of that mark (287) in 2006-07.
Home Sweet Home
Since the inaugural season in 1968-69 at the Joyce Center,
Notre Dame owns a 484-141 record all-time for a .774 winning
percentage. The Irish are 99-27 (.786) at the Joyce Center during
Mike Brey's seven-plus seasons, and since the 1996-97 campaign, they
own a 145-43 mark for a .771 winning percentage.
Over The Century Mark
Notre Dame topped the 100-point mark for the first time in
2007-08 against Northern Illinois with a 108-62 victory against the
Huskies. It marked the ninth time during head coach Mike Brey's
tenure that the Irish have reached the 100-point mark.
Road Warriors
In Mike Brey's seven-plus seasons, his Irish teams have
compiled a road record of 55-53 (.509) that includes a 35-36 (.492)
in true road games and a 20-17 mark (.541) in neutral site contests.
Team Basketball
Under Irish head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame always has
done a good job of distributing the basketball and shown great
unselfishness as a team. That was again evident against Long Island
in the season opener when the Irish dished off 28 assists on 35
baskets (a 0.8 assists-to-basket ratio). Notre Dame also enjoyed a
strong assist-to-basket ratio versus Youngstown State (24 assists and
32 baskets), Colgate (25 assists on 32 baskets), Northern Illinois
(27 assists on 36 baskets), Brown (23 assists on 30 baskets) and
North Florida (24 assists on 25 baskets). Through 14 games, the
Irish are averaging 19.8 assists per game and have dished off 277
assists on 394 baskets for a 0.70 assist-to-basket ratio.
Zeller Down Under
For the second straight summer in 2007, forward Luke Zeller
played with Athletes In Action, joining them this year for an
eight-game Australian tour. During the exhibition tour, he averaged
11.3 points and 6.6 rebounds and scored in double figures in five of
those contests. The previous year, he traveled to Taipei City, Taiwan
and was a member of the AIA squad that captured the gold medal at the
2006 William Jones Cup.
A BIG EAST Family
The Kurz family name is familiar name in BIG EAST circles
this season. Rob Kurz' younger sister, Laura, is a member of the
Villanova women's basketball team. She played for two years (2004-06)
at Duke before tranferring to Villanova. After sitting out last
season, the junior forward is posting identical numbers as her older
brother Rob. Rob is currently the third-leading scorer for the Irish
(13.7 ppg.) and second-leading rebounder (8.3), while Laura is the
Wildcats' second-leading scorer (14.0 ppg.) and top rebounder (6.8).
A New Addition To The Irish Basketball Family
Assistant coach Rod Balanis and his wife Liz welcomed their
second son, Lukas Lowell, into their family on Tues., November 27 at
11:43 a.m. joining older brother Andrew George (now two years old).
The baby was delivered just over 14 hours after the Irish had beaten
Colgate 94-63 on that Monday night.
