Feb. 5, 2001
The 20th-ranked Fighting Irish (14-5, 6-2 Big East West) are tied with
Syracuse, which plays at No. 20 Boston College on Wednesday. Notre Dame
appears
to be peaking at the right time as it makes a run for its first NCAA
tournament
bid since 1990, winning its last five games.
The Irish completed a two-game road swing with a 75-67 victory at
Pittsburgh
on Saturday as Troy Murphy and Danny Graves scored 24 points apiece for
Notre
Dame, which overcame an early 11-point deficit and shot 54 percent
(27-for-50)
from the field for the game.
"We have some momentum now," Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey said. "Now
we
know who we are and we can just continue to fine-tune. We have a different
look
and body language right now. We feel good."
Notre Dame has won eight consecutive home games at the Joyce Athletic
Center
since back-to-back losses to Indiana and Miami of Ohio on Dec. 5 and 9,
respectively.
St. John's (12-8, 6-3 East) fell into third place in the East Division
following Saturday's 75-63 setback at Providence. Sharif Fordham had 14
points
and eight rebounds for the Red Storm, who were hampered by freshman point
guard
Omar Cook being outplayed by Friars counterpart Jon Linehan.
Cook, who averages 16 points and nine assists, was held to five and
three.
He went 2-for-10 from the field and also committed four of St. John's 17
turnovers. The Red Storm's starting lineup accounted for just 29 points, and
the team shot only 36 percent from the field.
This is the only regular-season meeting between the teams. Murphy had
30
points and 18 rebounds as the Fighting Irish closed the game with a 17-2 run
to
record a 73-60 victory last season. Notre Dame leads the all-time series
13-11.
