Feb. 6, 2008

Notre Dame at Seton Hall Box Score

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Luke Harangody, Kyle McAlarney and No. 22 Notre Dame made it look easy against overmatched Seton Hall.

Harangody had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and McAlarney scored 19 points to help the Fighting Irish rout Seton Hall 95-69 on Wednesday night.

Irish coach Mike Brey could only smile thinking about Harangody, the Big East scoring leader.

“He does something new just about every week,” Brey said. “He’s got a great feel for the game. Great hands. He keeps doing things where I shake my head, and I say, ‘Keep going.”‘

McAlarney finished with five 3-pointers, hitting his third in the first half to give Notre Dame a 47-27 lead at halftime. The guard from Staten Island seemingly had an answer for every Pirates’ run.

The Irish made eight of their first 12 shots, led by Harangody. The sophomore displayed a wide array of moves for the Irish (17-4, 7-2), who remained in sole possession of second place in the Big East behind Georgetown.

The Irish shot 54 percent and outrebounded the Pirates 49-31.

“We’re a real unselfish group, and every time down the floor we try to get the best shot possible,” McAlarney said. “We move the ball around and it really stirs teams up on the defensive end.”

In the previous three games, Harangody averaged 28.3 points and 12.6 rebounds. The burly forward was again the dominating force for the Irish.

“I thought this was my best all-around game of the season,” Harangody said. “It was a fun time tonight. We were clicking on all cylinders and I thought we moved the ball great.”

“He’s just a huge weapon for us. And no team in the Big East has a player like him,” McAlarney said.

Jeremy Hazell scored 26 points, Brian Laing had 18 and Jamar Nutter 11 for the Pirates, who have lost eight of their last nine games against the Irish. Seton Hall (15-8, 5-5) has lost two straight overall after a five-game winning streak.

Paul Gause, one of the Pirates’ top defenders, injured his left knee in the first half and did not return. He missed seven games after breaking a knuckle on Jan. 3.

The Pirates were 5-of-27 from the field in the first half.

“Notre Dame made its own breaks,” Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez said. “We were not making shots and doing stuff where we could come back.”