Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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let's see how we do on Thursday. That's all we can bite off right now." Visiting Maine turned out to be quite a lot to chew on Dec. 8. With a spirited defensive effort in the sec- ond half and 22 points and 14 re- bounds from Cooley, combined with a 26-point explosion from Atkins, Notre Dame was able to fend off the Black Bears, 87-78 — but not without another casualty. Fifth-year senior and co-captain Scott Martin took a shot to the head at the end of the first half and missed the rest of the game with a mild con- cussion. "Those two guys [Cooley and Atkins] just kind of had that look that they were going to make some plays," Brey said. "I thought Alex [Dragicevich] had a little bit of that look today, and Pat [Connaughton] did, too." Dragicevich finished with 14 points and Connaughton added four points and five rebounds. Grant's of- fensive production took a major dip (six points), but the guard knocked down a huge three-pointer with 51 seconds to play to give Notre Dame an 83-72 cushion. The teams traded leads 15 times until the Irish pulled away late. A Dragicevich drive, a pair of Cooley foul shots, an Atkins three-pointer and a jumper from the stripe by Cooley gave Notre Dame an 80-72 advantage before Grant hammered in the final nail from deep. The Irish shot 51.8 percent (29 of 56) for the game and 75.0 per- cent (21 of 28) from the free throw line. Looking for their first back-to- back wins in nearly a month, the Irish welcomed Ivy League member Dartmouth to South Bend, Ind., on Dec. 10. With the team's two cap- tains in khakis and its top two scorers putting up goose eggs, Brey's squad took it to the Big Green for a 65-47 victory. Martin, two days removed from a mild concussion, did not play. As a result, Brey sent out the seventh different starting five in 11 games — junior forwards Cooley and Tom Knight, and guards Dragicevich, Connaughton and Atkins. Grant, who had started every contest lead- ing up to the game, and who was averaging 13.6 points per game (sec- ond best behind Atkins' 15.6), came off the bench. "We just wanted to change it," Brey said about starting Connaughton over Grant, and Dragicevich in place of junior Joey Brooks. "I thought [Dragicevich] and [Connaughton] deserved to be in there given how they played the other night against Maine. It's amazing how we kind of change from day to day, week to week." Grant and Atkins never found their groove offensively, combining for 0-of-16 shooting from the field and failing to score. It didn't matter with another strong performance from Cooley — who, upset to miss out on a double-double, was a man possessed for the second straight game. He fin- ished with a game-high 22 points, which tied his career high from the previous outing against Maine, and nine rebounds. Knight chipped in with eight points, all in the first half, and five boards. Dragicevich shot 5 of 9 from the field, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers, for 15 points, and junior Joey Brooks, who was averaging just six points per game, ignited for 13. LOOKING AHEAD Sophomore point guard Eric Atkins averaged 13.9 points, 3.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds while playing www.BLUEANDGOLD.com If playing the 9-0 Hoosiers at Con- in nine games during Notre Dame's 7-4 start. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND seco Fieldhouse in a Crossroads Clas- sic game on Dec. 17 wasn't enough of a challenge, head coach Tom Crean's squad is coming off the biggest win of his four-year tenure in Bloom- ington — a 73-72 home victory over No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 10. Junior Christian Watford finished with 20 points in Indiana's first upset of a top-ranked team since taking down Duke in the 2002 NCAA Tour- nament. The only other time they had beaten a No. 1 team in Blooming- ton was Jan. 7, 2001, when Kirk Has- ten hit a buzzer-beater to knock off No. 1 Michigan State 59-58. Against the Wildcats, Watford knocked down a jumper from the left wing for the winning bucket as time expired. The Irish will wrap up the non- conference slate at home against Sa- cred Heart (6-6) on Dec. 19 before Pittsburgh travels to Purcell Pavilion on Dec. 27. ✦ M 2011-12 NOTRE DAME Date Opponent Result/Time (ET)/TV Nov. 12 Mississippi Valley State W, 80-67 Nov. 14 Detroit^ Nov. 16 Sam Houston State^ W, 74-41 Nov. 18 Delaware State^ Nov. 21 vs. Missouri# Nov. 22 vs. Georgia# Nov. 27 Bryant Nov. 30 at Gonzaga Dec. 4 vs. Maryland@ Dec. 8 Maine Dec. 10 Dartmouth Dec. 17 vs. Indiana% Dec. 19 Sacred Heart Dec. 27 Pittsburgh* Jan. 4 Jan. 7 W, 93-69 L, 87-58 L, 61-57 W, 84-59 L, 73-53 L, 78-71 W, 87-78 W, 65-47 4:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. at Cincinnati* at Louisville* Jan. 10 South Florida* Jan. 14 Connecticut* Jan. 16 at Rutgers* Jan. 21 Syracuse* Jan. 25 at Seton Hall* Jan. 29 at Connecticut* Feb. 4 Marquette* Feb. 8 at West Virginia* Feb. 11 DePaul* Feb. 15 Rutgers* Feb. 18 at Villanova* Feb. 22 West Virginia* Feb. 25 at St. John's*! Feb. 27 at Georgetown* March 2 Providence* 7 p.m./ESPN2 7 p.m./BEN 4 p.m./ESPNU 7 p.m./BEN 11 a.m./ESPN2 9 p.m./ESPNU 6 p.m./ESPN 8 p.m./BEN 12 p.m./BEN 1 p.m./CBS March 6-10 Big East Tournament! 9 p.m./ESPNU 12 p.m./BEN 7 p.m./ESPNU 9 p.m./ESPNU 7 p.m./ESPN2 12 p.m./ESPN2 7 p.m./ESPN 7 p.m./BEN TBD ^ Progressive CBE Classic regional round; # Pro- gressive CBE Classic semifinals and final round at Kansas City, Mo.; @ BB&T Classic at Washington, D.C. (George Washington, Maryland, Notre Dame, VCU); % Close The Gap Crossroads Classic (Butler, Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue); * Big East game; ! at Madison Square Garden in New York; MASN — Mid- Atlantic Sports Network, BEN — Big East Network JANUARY 2012 51 EN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE W, 59-53