Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME 45 Years Ago: March 7, 1970 Notre Dame posts its first NCAA Tournament victory in 12 years with a 112-82 blowout of Mid-American Conference champion Ohio in the then 25-team field. The victory in front of a capacity audience of 13,450 at the University of Dayton Arena is highlighted by what is now deemed an un- breakable record in the tourney's history — 61 points by Notre Dame junior guard Austin Carr. In the first 11 minutes, Carr tallies 21 points, but Notre Dame doesn't take the lead for good until the 6:29 mark. By halftime the Irish build a 54-41 advantage with Carr scoring 35 points on 15-of-23 shooting from the field. "The only thing I was thinking about was get- ting past the first round because it had been so long since Notre Dame won a game in the tournament," Carr said. "I was probably more focused in the first half than normal because of that." The previous single-game tourney scoring record was 58 set in 1965 by Princeton's Bill Bradley. Carr eclipses it with 49 seconds left, finishing 25 of 44 (56.8 percent) from the field and 11 of 14 (78.6 percent) from the foul line. In the round of 16 versus No. 1 Kentucky, Notre Dame leads 87-86 before Irish big men Collis Jones and Sid Catlett foul out in the 109- 99 defeat. Carr scores 52 points on 22-of-36 shooting (61.1 percent) from the field. In the regional consolation game against Big Ten champ Iowa, Carr adds 45 more points in a 121-106 loss. His 52.7 points per game average remains a single-year NCAA Tournament standard, as does his 41.3 career average in seven contests. A distant second is Bradley at 33.7. 10 Years Ago: March 29, 2005 Spring practice opens under new Fighting Irish head coach Charlie Weis. Per usual, the tone is instan- taneously positive under a new regime. Anniversaries In Notre Dame Athletics History: March Austin Carr scored an NCAA Tournament-record 61 points against Ohio University 45 years ago. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS