Dec. 4, 2009

Notre Dame vs. Central Florida

Complete Release in PDF Format

• Notre Dame (7-1) continues its seven-game December homestand on Sunday afternoon as the Irish entertain Central Florida (6-1) in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Coach Mike Brey’s squad will play three games over the next six days before taking a seven-day hiatus for final exams. Following Sunday’s contest, Notre Dame will entertain IUPUI on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. and then will play host to Loyola Marymount on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 7:00 p.m.
• The Knights are a member of Conference USA and Notre Dame is 15-7 all-time versus teams that comprise that league: UAB (1-0), East Carolina (1-0), Houston (4-4); Marshall (1-0), Rice (2-1), SMU (4-1), Tulane (2-0) and Tulsa (0-1).
• Notre Dame is coming off an 80-70 victory on Tuesday night (Dec. 1) against Idaho State that produced the Irish’s seventh win of the 2009-10 campaign. Luke Harangody led the Irish with 27 points and 12 rebounds as he recorded his third double-double of the season. Ben Hansbrough also netted double figures as he finished with 14 points in his fifth double-figure outing of the season.
  oLuke Harangody reached the 2,000-point plateau against Idaho State with the game’s first basket to become the program’s seventh 2,000-point scorer and joined Austin Carr – 2,560 points (1968-71); Adrian Dantley – 2,223 (1973-76); Chris Thomas – 2,195 points (2001-05); Pat Garrity – 2,085 (1994-98) and Troy Murphy – 2,058 (1998-01) in that illustrious group. He also became the first player in school history to score 2,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds. Harangody reached the 1,000-rebound mark against Kennesaw State on Nov. 24 and now has 1,031 career rebounds. He is just the fifth player in Notre Dame basketball history to reach that mark.

Ironmen

• Irish seniors Luke Harangody, Tory Jackson and Jonathan Peoples have logged heavy playing time in their Irish careers. The trio has played in a combined 319 contests and been in the starting lineup on 186 occasions.
• Harangody has made 91 consecutive starts in the 107 contests he has played as he earned a spot in the starting lineup in the 16th game of his freshman season. He has averaged 28.5 mintues per game throughout his playing career. He missed the only two games of his career last season when he was diagnosed with pneumonia.
• Jackson has never missed a game during his collegiate career (109 contests) and started 95 games while averaging 31.8 minutes per game.
• Peoples played in his 100th career outing against Kennesaw State on Nov. 24 and in 103 games overall. He has been in the starting lineup in all eight games this season and has earned 10 starts overall.

A New Era In Notre Dame Basketball – Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center

• Notre Dame basketball gets a facelift in 2009-10 as the largest renovation in Joyce Center history signals the opening of Purcell Pavilion. The $26.3-million project, which began with groundbreaking ceremonies in September 2008, was made possible by lead gifts from Philip J. Purcell III, Vincent J. Naimoli and Mike Leep, Sr. The renovation encompasses construction of a new three-story structure at the south end of the arena that will include a new three-story lobby, the Notre Dame ticket operations (approximately 4,500 square feet) and a varsity shop to sell apparel and souvenirs (approximately 3,000 square feet), in addition to a new club seating and hospitality area. Replacement of the existing Joyce Center arena seating, including the installation of chair-back seating throughout the arena, took place during the summer of 2009 following Commencement Exercises in May. The entire project is scheduled for completion in January 2010.
• The arena is Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center – and the new club/hospitality area (and two outdoor patios) will be named the Naimoli Family Sports Club Room. The new varsity shop will be named the Mike Leep Sr. Varsity Shop, while the three-story atrium is named after former Notre Dame athletic director Dick Rosenthal.

Class of 2010 Aims For History

• The Irish senior class of Luke Harangody, Tory Jackson, Jonathan Peoples and Tim Andree enters its final season looking to become the all-time winningest class in career and BIG EAST Conference victories at Notre Dame. The quartet has a 77-32 record for a .706 winning percentage and is 33-19 (.635) overall in BIG EAST play. They need 17 wins to surpass the 92 wins from the 1975-79 and 1977-81 classes. The most BIG EAST wins are 40 set by Irish teams from 2000-04 and 2004-08.

Andrean Honors Harangody

• Luke Harangody was honored by his alma mater, Andrean High School, in a special ceremony as the school designated the evening Luke Harangody Night. Harangody’s No. 40 jersey that he wore in high school was honored by the school in a pre-game ceremony and was the first-ever to be recognized in this special ceremony.
• Harangody led Andrean to a 67-29 record, won two Athletic Conference crowns (2005 and 2006) and three sectional titles. A two-time all-state and all-conference honoree, he finished his career with 1,527 points (18.8 ppg.) and 850 rebounds (10.5 rpg.).

Harangody Tops Associated Press Preseason All-America Team

• Luke Harangody was the leading vote-getter on the Associated Press Preseason All-America Team that was announced Nov. 2. Harangody received 57 votes from the 65-member media panel. Joining him on the preseason AP All-America team was junior Cole Aldrich of Kansas (49 votes), senior Sherron Collins of Kansas (39 votes), junior Patrick Patterson of Kentucky (35 votes) and junior Kyle Singler of Duke (30 votes).
• Harangody also was one of nine BIG EAST players named to the 50-person 2009-10 Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List that was announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
• In August, Harangody was named to the John R. Wooden All-America Team Preseason Top 50 List. Among the 50 returnees, he is the only two-time member of that squad having earned a spot on the 10-member team in both 2008 and 2009.
• Harangody also was named as one of 30 candidates in men’s basketball for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

Same Game, New Number

• Irish fans will not see the familiar No. 2 worn by Tory Jackson in his first three seasons as he has switched jersey numbers and is wearing No. 3 in 2009-10.

Points a Plenty

• Through its first five games, Notre Dame was averaging 86.8 points per game and yielding just 66.6 to its opponents. The Irish opened up the season scoring 80 or more points in all five games. The last time Notre Dame topped the 80-point mark in the first five games of a season was in 1978-79.
• The Irish averaged just 61.0 ppg. in the final two games of the Chicago Invitational Challenge at UIC Pavilion. The 58 points in a 72-58 loss to Northwestern were the fewest scored by Notre Dame since a 66-48 loss to Georgetown on Jan. 6, 2007.
• Notre Dame has scored 80-plus points in six of eight contests this season.

Irish Aim For Fourth Straight 20-Win Season

• Notre Dame will be looking for its fourth straight 20-win season in 2009-10. The Irish recorded a 24-8 record in 2006-07, finished 25-8 in 2008-09 and posted a 21-15 mark in 2008-09. Notre Dame last had three consecutive 20-win campaigns in head coach Mike Brey’s first three seasons from 2000-03. The last time Irish teams reached the 20-win mark in four straight campaigns was from 1983-89 when those Notre Dame squads under former head coach Digger Phelps had six consecutive 20-win seasons.

Postseason Stretch

• Notre Dame has earned appearances in the postseason in each of the last 10 years – it’s the longest stretch in school history. The Irish have been in the NCAA Tournament on five occasions and in the National Invitation Tournament five times during this current stretch.
• Under 10th-year head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame has played in the NCAA five times and NIT four times. The Irish advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2003.

Non-Conference Home Win Streak

• Heading into today’s contest against Central Florida, Notre Dame will look to extend its 43-game non-conference home court win streak. The Irish last lost to a non-conference opponent at home when they suffered a 71-57 setback to Michigan on Dec. 3, 2005.

The Captains

• Seniors Luke Harangody, Tory Jackson and Jonathan Peoples have been voted captains for the 2009-10 season.

Harangody Tabbed as BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year

• For the second straight year, Luke Harangody was named the 2009-10 Preseason BIG EAST player of the year by a vote of the league’s head coaches. Harangody was chosen for the honor prior to his junior season after earning the conference’s player-of-the-year accolade in 2008. Last season, he became the first player in league history to lead the conference in both scoring (25.2) and rebounding (12.8). Harangody is one of only four players in Notre Dame history with 1,800 career points and 900 rebounds, ranking seventh all-time with 1,998 points and standing fifth with 1,019 rebounds. In his three-year BIG EAST career, he has scored 1,031 points (19.9 ppg.) in 52 league contests. Only three other players in BIG EAST history — Ray Allen (Connecticut), Richard Hamilton (Connecticut) and Pat Garrity (Notre Dame) — scored more than 1,000 points in three seasons.

The One And Only

• Luke Harangody reached a milestone never before achieved by an Irish basketball player – 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds – on Dec. 1 against Idaho State. He scored his 2,000th career point against the Bengals and reached the 1,000-rebound mark with his 15 boards against Kennesaw State on Nov. 24 to become only the fifth player in the 105-year history of the program to accomplish that feat.
  o While he is the only player in Notre Dame basketball history with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, he is one of only five players to have scored 1,000 points and grabbed 1,000 rebounds:
  Tom Hawkins (1956-59): 1,746 points, 1,318 rebounds Bob Whitmore (1966-69): 1,580 points, 1,043 rebounds LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92): 1,505 points, 1,075 rebounds Walter Sahm (1962-65): 1,077 points, 1,146 rebounds

Elder Statesman

• Mike Brey is in his 10th season along the Irish sidelines and is the third-longest tenured coach in the BIG EAST, behind only Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Jim Calhoun of Connecticut. Brey stands seventh all-time in the BIG EAST win 92 victories (92-69 overall that includes regular-season and tournament contests). He needs just six wins to move ahead of Steve Lappas, who coached at Villanova, on the career wins list and is eight wins shy of becoming just the sixth coach in BIG EAST history to record 100 conference wins.

BIG EAST All-Time Winningest Coaches By Victories

Jackson Set to Become 50th 1,000-Point Scorer in Notre Dame History

• Tory Jackson is looking to become the 50th player in program history to score 1,000 career points and needs just 32 to reach that mark. He owns a scoring average of 8.9 points and has played in all 109 games of his Irish career.
• With 547 career assists, he would become just the fourth player in school history with 1,000 career points and 500 assists.
• The three Irish players with 1,000 points and 500 assists are:
  Chris Thomas (2001-05): 2,195 points, 833 assists
  David Rivers (1984-88): 2,011 points, 586 assists
  Elmer Bennett (1956-59): 1,488 points, 516 assists

A BEN-e-ful Debut

• Senior guard Ben Hansbrough had a successful debut in an Irish uniform against North Florida in the season opener as he scored 19 points and dished off four assists in 31 minutes. Hansbrough was 5-6 from the field in the contest.
• He finished 5-5 from three-point range and in the process tied a Purcell Pavilion record for three-point field goal percentage.
• Hansbrough followed that performance up with 18 points and seven assists against St. Francis.
• After scoring just four points against Northwestern and finishing 1-10 from the field, Hansbrough finished with 14 points against Saint Louis on 6-9 shooting from the field.
• Hansbrough scored in double figures in Notre Dame’s first three games – the second time in his career that he netted 10-plus points in three straight contests. As a freshman at Mississippi State, he scored in double figures in four straight games.
• He has netted 10-plus points in five games this season.

Making It Count

• Junior forward Tim Abromaitis, who played in just 12 games as a freshman in 2007-08 and did not play at all during the 2008-09 campaign, has had timely contributions in Notre Dame’s first eight games as he is averaging 12.6 points and 3.8 rebounds.
• In the season opener against North Florida, Abromaitis came off the bench and registered then personal-bests of 21 minutes and 13 points (first career game in double figures) as he connected on 5-6 shots from the field and was 3-4 from three-point range.
• In Notre Dame’s second outing of the season, he eclipsed his career best with a 17-point performance that also included grabbing a personal best five rebounds.
• Abromaitis scored in double figures in Notre Dame’s first seven games.
• The only game that he has not been in double figures was last Tuesday night against Idaho State as he finished nine points.

Rock Solid

• Notre Dame’s new backcourt tandem of seniors Tory Jackson and Ben Hansbrough have combined for 75 assists and they have turned the ball over just 21 times.
• Jackson owns an 3.80 assist-to-turnover ratio (38 assists, 10 turnovers), while Hansbrough stands at 3.09 (37 assists, 11 turnovers).
• Jackson is averaging a turnover every 27.4 minutes, while Hansbrough is averaging a turnover every 23.3 minutes.
• Against Kennesaw State, the duo accounted for nine of Notre Dame’s 19 assists and neither one committed a turnover in the contest. Jackson played 37 minutes and dished off five assists, while Hansbrough had four assists in 30 minutes.
• Jackson also went without a turnover in back-to-back games versus Kennesaw State and Northwestern, playing nearly all 40 minutes against the Wildcats.
• In the last four outings spanning 142 minutes (averaging a turnover every 47 minutes), Jackson has committed just three turnovers. In three of those four contests – Kennesaw State, Northwestern and Idaho State – he did not register a turnover. He had a season-high three turnovers against Long Beach State and Saint Louis.

The Peoples’ Choice

• Senior guard Jonathan Peoples has started the first eight games of the 2009-10 campaign and 10 for his career. In the season-opening win over North Florida, he played a career-high 30 minutes in the contest and notched his third career double-figure outing as he scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting, including a 3-5 performance from three-point range. Peoples also reached double figures against Long Beach State as he scored 10 points.

A Coming Out Party

• Junior forward Carleton Scott had his best outing in an Irish uniform against Kennesaw State on Nov. 24 as he matched his career best with seven points and two assists and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in a then personal-high 22 minutes.
• He put together another solid effort against Northwestern as he played a career-high 26 minutes and had seven points and eight rebounds.
• Scott scored a career-high eight points in 21 minutes against Idaho State on Tuesday night.

Hitting The Boards

• Tyrone Nash had his best rebounding effort of the season in Notre Dame’s win over Saint Louis as he finished with a season-high 10 boards. It marked the second game in his career that he recorded 10-plus rebounds in a game.
• Nash’s other career double-digit rebounding effort came against Villanova last season when he grabbed 11 rebounds.

Hammer Time

• Freshman Mike Broghammer has become a crowd favorite and has been affectionately dubbed “The Hammer” by the Irish student body.
• Broghammer played a career-high nine minutes against Idaho State on Tuesdsay night night and finished with three points and three rebounds.

Statistical Champions

• Notre Dame finished first nationally in 2008-09 in two statistical categories – turnovers (9.5) and assist to turnovers (1.75).
• In 2007-08, the Irish led the nation in assists with 18.4 per game.

105 Years Young

• The 2009-10 campaign marks the 105th season of basketball at Notre Dame and the 15th season as a member of the BIG EAST Conference. Notre Dame teams have posted a 1658-909 record for a .646 winning percentage. In 14 seasons as a member of the BIG EAST, the Irish own a 123-113 (.521) record all-time in conference regular-season play.

BIG EAST Turnaround

• During head coach Mike Brey’s tenure, Notre Dame has had only two losing seasons in BIG EAST play – 6-10 in 2005-06 and 8-10 in 2008-09. Since the ’05-’06 campaign when the Irish finished 6-10 after beginning the BIG EAST campaign with a 1-8 record, Notre Dame has gone 38-21 (.644) over the last 59 regular-season league games.

BIG EAST Formula For Success

• Since his arrival at Notre Dame, Mike Brey has led the Irish to an 88-60 (.594) record in BIG EAST regular-season games and a 4-9 mark in tournament play for an overall record of 92-69 (.571) against league foes. In Brey’s first season, the Irish posted their first-ever winning record in BIG EAST play and won the league’s 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 from 1995-2000.

347 And Counting

• Entering today’s contest against Central Florida, Notre Dame has hit at least one three-pointer in 347 straight games, a mark that dates back to the 1998-99 campaign. The last time an Irish team failed to hit a three-pointer in a game was in 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 2008-09, the Irish set a single-season three-point record with 319.

Living Large At The Line

• Notre Dame is shooting 68.9 percent from the free throw line, led by Luke Harangody’s 83.6 percent accuracy as he has connected on 46-55 from the charity stripe. As a team, the Irish have outscored their opponents 112-58 from the line, while attempting 82 more free throws (11.7 per game). Notre Dame is 84-121 from the free-throw line, while opponents have made 73.4 percent (58-79).

In the Spotlight

• Notre Dame will appear on national television 14 times during the 2009-10 campaign that includes two games on CBS (UCLA and Georgetown), seven contests on either ESPN or ESPN2 and five games on ESPNU. The Irish appeared on national television a school-record 23 times in 2008-09.

Now That’s Something To Talk About

• Notre Dame has won 58 of its last 61 home games that included a school-record 45-game win streak from 2006-09. The Irish also tied a BIG EAST mark by winning 20 straight conference home games during that time period. Notre Dame became the first BIG EAST team in conference history to record back-to-back undefeated seasons at home after finishing 17-0 in ’06-’07 and 18-0 in ’07-’08. Here’s a look at the dominance of the Irish over the course of the last 61 contests at home:

Notre Dame has shot .500 or better in 24 of 61 games; opponents have shot .500 or better in 5 of 61 games. There have been 41 wins by 10-plus points; 22 wins by 20-plus points; 14 wins by 30-plus points; 5 wins by 40-plus points; and 1 win by 50-plus points.

Irish Sign Three Guards In Early Signing Period

• Irish head coach Mike Brey signed a trio of guards during the early signing period in November: Eric Atkins (Columbia, Md./Mount St. Joseph/6-1, 170); Alex Dragicevich (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North/6-6, 210) and Jerian Grant (Bowie, Md./DeMatha/6-5, 180). Atkins averaged 23.4 points, 6.0 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 steals en route to earning Baltimore Catholic League player-of-the-year honors and first team all-Baltimore Metor accolades. Dragicevich led his Glenbrook North squad to a 23-5 record in 2008-09 while averaging 20.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists and being selected as the Central Suburban League North Player of the Year. Grant will be one of three members from the current Notre Dame men’s basketball family who attended DeMatha, which also is the alma mater of Brey and assistant Rod Balanis. As a junior, he averaged 7.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists and led his team to a final 32-4 mark and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

It’s Academic

• When the Irish finished with a 3.168 grade point average following the 2009 spring semester, it marked the ninth time in 11 semesters that head coach Mike Brey’s squad had finished with a 3.00 grade index or higher.
• Members of the 2008-09 Irish squad earned a 3.151 following the 2008 fall semester, and, for the academic year, produced a 3.165 GPA. With the completion of the ’09 spring semester, Notre Dame players had a cumulative 3.105 grade point average, the highest ever. It also marked the 10th consecutive semester that the team has earned a cumulative GPA of above a 3.00.
• Notre Dame won the BIG EAST Academic Sport Excellence Award for men’s basketball for the second time in as many years. The BIG EAST began recognizing the highest collective grade-point averages in each conference sport in 2008. The Irish men’s basketball team has won it each of the two years it has been presented and joined two other Notre Dame squads (men’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis) as recipients in 2009.
• Seven players were named to the 2008-09 BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team, while 10 of the 14 members of the squad earned a grade point average of 3.00 or better in the spring semester.

Trends Under Brey

• Under Irish head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame always has been a team that has had a high number of assists and very few turnovers. Here’s a look a the Irish under Brey: