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sists per game, but are last in the Big East with just 5.8 steals per game. Louisville has picked the most pockets with 11.5 takeaways per contest. The Irish are one of only three teams to have a negative turnover margin (negative-0.38), but are second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8) behind the Panthers (2.0). Notre Dame is 13th in offensive rebounding (10.7) and third on the defensive glass (28.1). Cincinnati leads both categories with 16.7 offensive boards and 28.6 defensive rebounds per contest. According to the Big East, Notre Dame is averaging 7,656 fans per home game (eighth in the league). Louisville has seen 20,416 fans on average and Syracuse has welcomed 19,465 fans per home contest. Notre Dame junior point guard Eric Atkins has dished out 7.2 assists per contest, which ranks third in the Big East behind Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams (10.2) and South Florida's Anthony Collins (7.6). Atkins is also second in assistto-turnover ratio (4.0) behind Pitt's James Robinson (5.0). Big Rookie Boost Irish Individual Highlights Notre Dame senior forward Jack Cooley ranks 13th on the league list with 15.2 points per game. Cooley leads the league with 11.3 rebounds per game — 3.3 more 2012-13 Results/ Upcoming Schedule Date Nov. 10 Nov. 12 Nov. 16 Nov. 17 Nov. 21 Nov. 24 Nov. 26 Nov. 29 Dec. 8 Dec. 15 Dec. 17 Dec. 19 Dec. 21 Jan. 5 Jan. 7 Jan. 12 Jan. 15 Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Evansville$ W, 58-49 Monmouth$ W, 84-57 vs. St. Joseph's# L, 79-70 (OT) vs. BYU# W, 78-68 George Washington W, 65-48 St. Francis (Pa.) W, 69-52 Chicago State W, 92-65 Kentucky@ W, 64-50 Brown W, 84-57 vs. Purdue% (ESPN2) W, 81-68 IPFW (ESPNU) W, 74-62 Kennesaw State (ESPN3) W, 85-57 Niagara (ESPNU) W, 89-67 Seton Hall* (BEN) 12 p.m. at Cincinnati* (ESPN2) 6:30 p.m. Connecticut* (BEN) 2 p.m. at St. John's* (ESPN2) 7 p.m. $ CVC Classic preliminary rounds at South Bend; # CVC Classic championship rounds in Brooklyn, N.Y.; @ SEC/ Big East Challenge; % Close The Gap Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis (Notre Dame, Purdue, Butler and Indiana); * Big East game. As of Jan. 2, senior forward Jack Cooley led the Big East in rebounding (11.3 boards per game) and ranked 13th in scoring (15.2 points per game). photo by joe raymond than Providence's LaDontae Henton. He's crushing the competition when it comes to total offensive boards (63). Seton Hall's Eugene Teague (44) and Pitt's Steven Adams (43) and Talib Zanna (43) are next in line. Cooley has pulled down a conference-high 84 defensive rebounds, and Irish sixth-year senior Scott Martin is second with 73. "His will to go after that thing," head coach Mike Brey said about what makes Cooley so effective on the glass. "He's very underrated as an athlete, he's quick off his feet, his reach is long, certainly he has great strength and he has great hands, just super hands. When he gets near it, it's usually his." Added Cooley: "It's foot speed, trying to predict where the ball is going and luck; luck has a big thing to do with it. I have been fortunate so far in just being able to get where the ball is going to go and know my shooters and how the ball is going to come off the rim so it's just been on key." Irish senior center Garrick Sherman, a critical piece off the bench moving forward, has the highest field goal percentage in the Big East at .644 (47 of 73). Cooley (.640) is second and Zanna rounds out the top three with a mark of .627. ✦ Page 15 Freshman forward Cameron Biedscheid has reached double figures four times this year, including a 15-point effort in Notre Dame's last game, against Niagara Dec. 21 — an 89-67 Irish victory. He also connected on all four three-point attempts in the game. Biedscheid leads the squad from the foul line, working at an 85.0-percent clip, and is shooting 45.9 percent from the field (39 of 85). "I really owe it all to my teammates," he said. "The veteran guys on our squad just do a great job of finding the open man, and I knew if I would just be in the right spots at the right time and just let the game come to me that I would get an open shot." Only a couple nights earlier, in an 85‑57 victory over Kennesaw State, fellow freshman forward Zach Auguste put up 12 points in 12 minutes of action. "I thought it was neat that Zach got in and got some minutes and gave us some energy," head coach Mike Brey said. "I think that's a big step for him. I really was high on trying to get him included when we started this thing as you guys heard me say. "But we weren't getting much to work with there from him, he didn't help us much even with practice reps. But lately in practice he's been better, and [against Kennesaw State] I thought that was something to build on. "He is an active guy. You love guys coming off the bench that bring you some energy; he is an energy guy. We want to keep looking at that." ✦