Feb. 2, 2008
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Luke Harangody had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and Notre Dame used a late 10-0 run to regain control and beat DePaul 89-80 Saturday night.
DePaul (9-12, 4-5 Big East), which trailed 62-49 when Luke Zeller hit a 3-pointer for the Fighting Irish with 12:14 left, used a 17-2 run to cut the lead to 68-66 when Cliff Clinkscales scored inside and added a free throw with 6:17 left.
But the Irish (16-4, 6-2) put the game out of reach with a 10-0 run. Ryan Ayers started the run with a 17-foot baseline jumper. Then Harangody, who was just 2-of-9 from the field in the second half, knocked a rebound high into the air and it fell through the basket to give the Irish a 75-68 lead. Ayers added a slam dunk, Tory Jackson scored on a rebound and Zach Hillesland scored on a reverse layup with 3:03 left.
DePaul outshot Notre Dame 49 percent to 43 percent, but was outrebounded 46-36, including 23-16 in the second half. The Irish also were 17-of-20 from the free-throw line while the Blue Demons were just 1-of-3.
The Irish, off to their best start in the Big East since the 2002-03 season, won their 33rd straight at home before a crowd of 11,418 – just their fourth sellout during that winning streak.
Harangody nearly had a double-double at halftime with 19 points and nine rebounds. He finished 10-of-22 from the field to match his second best career scoring performance. He had 31 points in an 81-74 overtime win over Providence on Thursday. The double-double Saturday was his 11th of the season.
Kyle McAlarney added 17 points on 5-of-13 from 3-point range, and Hillesland finished with 10 points. Dar Tucker led DePaul with 19 points, Mac Koshwal had 18 points and nine rebounds and Draelon Burns had 17 points.