NOTRE DAME VS MARQUETTE GAME NOTES

NOTRE DAME PRESS RELEASE

#21/20 IRISH AT #22/22 MARQUETTE FOR KEY BIG EAST BATTLE

• No. 21/20 Notre Dame (22-6, 10-5) will travel to Milwaukee, Wis., to face No. 22/22 Marquette (20-7, 11-4) in a key BIG EAST showdown. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. (CT) inside the Bradley Center. The Golden Eagles currently are tied with Louisville for second place in the BIG EAST, while the Irish are tied with Syracuse for fourth in the standings.
• Saturday's game can be seen on ESPN and WatchESPN.com. Mike Patrick (play-by-play) and Len Elmore (analyst) will be on the call.
• Jack Nolan (play-by-play) and Sean Kearney (analyst) will call the action for the Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network and that broadcast can be heard for free on UND.com (full affiliate listings on Pg. 3). The game also is available on Sirius 85, XM 85.
• The Fighting Irish have won four of their last five games.
• Notre Dame is 4-1 against ranked teams this season.

MEETING MARQUETTE

• Saturday will be the 117th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Marquette. The Irish have won the last two showdowns and own an 80-36 advantage in the series. The Fighting Irish are 5-6 against the Golden Eagles in BIG EAST play.
• Notre Dame topped Marquette 76-59 inside Purcell Pavilion in last season's only meeting (Feb. 4, 2012). Pat Connaughton had 23 points and 11 rebounds in the game. He was 5-of-8 from three-point range. Eric Atkins added 18 points in the Irish victory.
• The Irish are 33-23 all-time at Marquette (1-3 in BIG EAST play).
• Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey is 6-7 all-time against Marquette.

IRISH BOAST BIG EAST SUCCESS

• Notre Dame has clinched its fourth straight 10-win season in BIG EAST play. It's the first time in program history the Irish have compiled four straight 10-win seasons in the BIG EAST. Notre Dame has won 10 or more league games nine times in 13 seasons under head coach Mike Brey.
• Notre Dame, Louisville and Syracuse are the only BIG EAST squads to win 10 or more league games in each of the last four seasons.

GETTING IT DONE DEFENSIVELY

• The Irish have limited their last two opponents (Pittsburgh & Cincinnati) to a combined 33-100 (.330) from the field, including a 2-20 mark from three-point range, and just 41.5 points per game in those two contests.
• Cincinnati's 41 points were the fewest ever for a Notre Dame opponent in BIG EAST play (regular season or tournament). The previous low was 42 by Pittsburgh last Monday and Seton Hall last season (1/25/12).
• The combined 83 points from Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were the fewest ever allowed by the Irish in consecutive BIG EAST games.
• Cincinnati's 15 first-half points were the fewest ever allowed by Notre Dame in any half of BIG EAST play (regular season or tournament).

CLEANING UP THE GLASS

• Notre Dame has a +31 rebound advantage in the last two games. The Irish grabbed 15 more rebounds (40-25) than Pittsburgh in a 51-42 and then outrebounded Cincinnati by 16 (43-27) in Sunday's 62-41 victory.

IRISH KNOW HOW TO FINISH STRONG IN LEAGUE PLAY

• Over the last seven seasons, Notre Dame has gone 25-7 (.781) in its final five games of the BIG EAST regular-season slate. That includes wins over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati this season.

FIGHTING IRISH FACTS

• Over the last three seasons, Notre Dame is 31-1 (11-0 this season) when shooting 50% or above from the field, 53-2 (16-0 this season) when outrebounding its opponent and 55-5 (18-1 this season) when leading at halftime.
• The Fighting Irish are 4-1 against ranked teams this season. Over the last four seasons, Notre Dame is 21-13 (.618) against teams ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll, including a 12-2 mark at home.

QUITE A CLASS

• Notre Dame's current senior class needs three more victories to become the program's all-time winningest class. The group already has compiled the most BIG EAST victories in any four-year period since the Irish joined the conference in 1995. Here is a breakdown of Notre Dame's top classes based on wins:
  2007-11: 96-42 overall/46-26 BIG EAST
  2009-13: 94-37 overall/47-22 BIG EAST
  2006-10: 93-43 overall/43-27 BIG EAST

NOTRE DAME NOTCHES ANOTHER 20-WIN CAMPAIGN

• The Irish have clinched their seventh straight 20-win season. It's the first time in program history Notre Dame has compiled seven consecutive 20-win campaigns. The Fighting Irish have reached the 20-win plateau 10 times in 13 seasons under head coach Mike Brey.

BREY FOURTH ON BIG EAST WINS LIST

• The five-overtime win over Louisville on Feb. 9 moved Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey past former St. John's head coach Lou Carnesecca and into sole possession of fourth place on the BIG EAST all-time wins list (both regular-season and tournament). Brey has a 143-94 (.603) BIG EAST record.
• Brey is in his 13th season along the Irish sidelines. He is the second-longest tenured coach in the BIG EAST, behind only Jim Boeheim of Syracuse.
• Notre Dame was just 36-58 (.383) in five seasons of BIG EAST play prior to Brey's arrival.

BIG EAST UPS AND DOWNS

• Notre Dame has averaged 74.4 points-per-game in its 10 BIG EAST victories, while the Irish averaged just 53.8 points in their five league losses. The Fighting Irish have shot 47.0% from the field in the victories and 39.6% in the setbacks. From three-point range, Notre Dame has shot 42.1% in the wins and 22.2% in the defeats.
• The Irish are +6.2 in rebounds in the wins and -7.2 in the losses.