Feb. 15, 2001
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Troy Murphy didn’t have Troy Murphy numbers, but Notre Dame had another victory because of him.
Matt Carroll had 20 points and Murphy added 18 as the 14th-ranked Fighting Irish beat Rutgers 81-59 Wednesday night for their eighth straight victory.
Notre Dame matched its longest winning streak since the 1986-87 season – even with the subpar performance by Murphy, who is third in the nation in scoring at 23.2.
Murphy, an 80 percent free throw shooter, was just 3-for-8 from the line and 7-for-13 from the field, even missing a dunk in the second half.
“I’m not struggling when we’re up 20,” the junior forward said. “I could miss every free throw, every shot, do nothing. If we’re up, I could care less.”
The absence of second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Ryan Humphrey (sprained right ankle) didn’t slow down Notre Dame (17-5, 9-2 Big East), either. The Irish took control in the first half and cruised to their fourth straight road win.
“We’re a confident basketball team and getting more confident each game,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “You want to bottle it and keep it going down the stretch.”
The Irish shot 67 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes (16-for-24) in taking a 43-25 halftime lead. David Graves started and ended an 18-3 run with 3-pointers as Notre Dame went up 36-18 with 4:12 left in the half.
Rutgers (10-12, 2-9), which had won two straight after an eight-game losing streak, went 1-for-8 from the field and committed four turnovers during Notre Dame’s run.
Todd Billet and Jeff Greer, the two leading scorers for the Scarlet Knights, managed three points in the first half – on a 3-pointer by Billet with 25 seconds left.
Notre Dame extended the lead to 62-36 with 12:23 left on a tip-in by Murphy, who was booed lustily by the Rutgers crowd every time he touched the ball. The fans of the state university wanted to make sure the New Jersey native knew their feelings about his decision to leave the Garden State.
“They weren’t getting to me at all,” Murphy said. “Tonight we came to play. They won two games in a row and we come in and beat them by 20 at their place. It means we’re one of the top teams in our league when we bring it every night.”
Eugene Dabney had a career-high 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead Rutgers.
Billet had seven points and finished 3-for-13 from the field, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range. He entered the game leading the Big East at 52.6 percent from beyond the arc.
Greer, who finished with five points on 1-for-9 shooting, averaged almost 20 points over the last four games.
The Irish, who shot 61.7 percent for the game (29-for-47), have allowed an average of 65 points per game in the winning streak.
“You have to start with our defensive effort, something we’ve done during this stretch,” Brey said. “I wouldn’t have believed we’d hold Billet to seven points. We did a great job on him and Greer, their momentum guys with the 3-point shooting.”
Notre Dame won the first meeting between the teams 87-80 on Jan. 6, a game when Murphy scored a career-high 37 points. Greer had a career-high 26 that game and Billet added 20.
“We were a much more competitive team out there. We defended rebounded, ran the court. We didn’t have any of those qualities tonight,” Rutgers coach Kevin Bannon said. “They play with great confidence and we never got them rattled. They shot the heck out of it and we never responded. We dug a ditch, got in the ditch and never got out.”
The win was the first in five appearances in the Rutgers Athletic Center for Notre Dame.