A Tale Of Two Halves

• The first and second halves for Notre Dame against Cincinnati in its 91-74 victory on Tuesday night couldn't have been more different than night and day. In the first half, the Irish trailed 34-27 at the break (the first time they had trailed at home at halftime this season) after shooting only 24.0 percent from the field (6-25). In the second-half, the Irish outscored the Bearcats 64-40 as they shot 69.2 percent (18-26) from the field, 66.7 percent (6-9) from three-point range and 84.6 percent (22-26) from the free throw line.
• Luke Harangody scored 24 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. It was the largest scoring output by and Irish player in a half since Chris Thomas scored 27 of 39 points in the second half of a 77-66 victory over Saint Louis on March 22, 2004.
• The 64 points in the second half were the most points by an Irish team in a half of a regulational game under head coach Mike Brey.
• The six first-half field goals matched the fewest ever scored by an Irish team in a half under Brey.

Staying Ahead

• Prior to last Saturday's loss at Marquette, Notre Dame had not trailed at halftime of a game this season and its largest deficit of the season was against Baylor at the Paradise Jam (67-62) with 13 seconds to play in the contest. Against the Golden Eagles, the Irish never led in the contest and trailed by as many as 30 points in the second half.
• Against Cincinnati on Tuesday night, the Irish only led for a combined 1:37 of the first half and did not take the lead for good until the 15:31 mark of the second half.
• In fact, up until that game, Notre Dame had only trailed for 6:13 of a possible 400 minutes in its first 10 home games.

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 19.3 assists per game and 13.8 turnovers for a 1.39 assists-to-turnover ratio. Notre Dame has dished off 20 or more assists in six games this season. The 24 turnovers committed by Notre Dame in the loss at Marquette were the most ever for for an Irish team under head coach Mike Brey.

Double The Pleasure

• For the second time this season, Luke Harangody had a string of three consecutive double-doubles. His string started with his 29-point and 16-rebound performance against West Virginia, followed by 14 points and 10 boards against Connecticut and 29 points and 14 rebounds at Marquette. He posted three consecutive double-doubles for the first time in his career in wins over Kansas State, Northern Illinois and San Francisco. 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. He has eight double-doubles on the season and eight in the last 12 contests.
• 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 six doubles this season and 16 during his career.
• The last Irish player to register four consecutive double-doubles was Ryan Humphrey in 2001-02 when he ended his career a double-double in the final 11 games of his career.

Record-Setting Home Performance

• Notre Dame put an exclamation point on its record-setting 25th consecutive wins 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 Notre Dame's win over Connecticut on January 5. 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 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 19.3 points and 9.6 rebounds. He leads the team with eight doubles and owns a 14-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 eight games. Harangody also tops the Irish with eight 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 an 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).

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 1,618 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

• Last Saturday's game against Marquette marked the first time all season that the Irish had trailed all 40 minutes of a game. In fact, heading into the contest, Notre Dame had trailed just 10:32 of a possible 560 minutes all 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 third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder and has scored in double figures in all but four 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 50.4 percent (63-125) from the field and 47.2 (17-36) 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 5.5 points and 4.9 rebounds and has scored in double figures in two games and grabbed five or more rebounds in 10 of the 14 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 43.1 percent (25-58) from the field.

'AYERS' Ball

• Junior Ryan Ayers is off to the best start in his career shooting 44.3 percent from the field (43-97) and 48.4 percent (30-62) from three-point range. His 8.0 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.

Zeller On The Boards

• Zeller had his best rebounding effort of his career as he registered 10 rebounds against Marquette on Saturday which marked a career-high for the Irish junior. His previous career-best had been nine rebounds on three occasions.

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 1618-888 record for a .646 winning percentage. In BIG EAST play, Notre Dame owns a 104-100 (.510) record all-time in conference regular-season play.

Always In It

• Since the 2005-06 campaign, Notre Dame's 25 losses have been by a combined 147 points for an average of 5.9 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 79.4 ppg. Notre Dame has topped 80-plus points on seven occasions, 90-plus points three times and the century mark once.

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 31 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	10. Texas A&M 15
  2. BYU 40	11. Georgetown 14
  3. NOTRE DAME 31	12. Missouri 13
  4. Indiana 27	Pittsburgh 13
  5. Tennessee 24	14. Drake 12
  6. Holy Cross 23	Marquette 12
  7. Akron 18	Vanderbilt 12
  8. Kansas 17
  Mississippi 17

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:
  31 - 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.

Keeping It Close

• In the 81 losses suffered by Irish teams in Mike Brey's seven seasons, only 20 have been by 10 or more points and have been by a combined 546 for an average of 6.7 points per game. Notre Dame's 26-point loss (92-66) to Marquette on last Saturday was the largest ever for an Irish team under Brey.

BIG EAST Formula For Success Under Brey

• Since his arrival at Notre Dame, Mike Brey has led Notre Dame to a 69-47 (.595) record in BIG EAST regular-season games and a 3-7 mark in tournament play for an overall record of 72-54 (.571) 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.

286 And Counting

• Heading into today's game against Georgetown, Notre Dame has hit at least one three-pointer in 286 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 485-141 record all-time for a .775 winning percentage. The Irish are 100-27 (.787) at the Joyce Center during Mike Brey's seven-plus seasons, and since the 1996-97 campaign, they own a 146-43 mark for a .772 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 55-54 (.505) that includes a 35-37 (.486) 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), North Florida (24 assists on 25 baskets) and Cincinnati (18 assists on 24 baskets). Through 16 games, the Irish are averaging 19.3 assists per game and have dished off 308 assists on 441 baskets for a 0.70 assist-to-basket ratio.

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 (13.8 ppg.) and second-leading rebounder (8.3), while Laura is the Wildcats' second-leading scorer (14.1 ppg.) and top rebounder (6.9).