National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Notre Dame 70, Connecticut 67
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 5, 2011
Where: Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut
Officials: # Tim Clougherty, # Pat Driscoll, # Mike Roberts
Attendance: 10167

Ben Hansbrough scored 21 points before fouling out as No. 7 Notre Dame kept its hopes for a share of the Big East regular-season title alive with a 70-67 road victory over No. 16 Connecticut on Saturday.

Tim Abromaitis added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Fighting Irish (25-5, 14-4 Big East), who can clinch the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament if Villanova beats Pittsburgh later Saturday. Either way, Notre Dame has a bye through to the quarterfinals on Thursday and is in position to earn a top-2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Kemba Walker finished with 34 points for the Huskies (21-9, 9-9), who will start on Tuesday at the Big East Tournament needing to win five games in as many days to take the conference.

The Irish led, 60-52, when Hansbrough picked up his fifth foul - an offensive foul away from the ball - and had to leave the game with 8:24 remaining. The Huskies made the most of their opportunity, embarking on a 13-0 run behind 11 points from Walker to take a 65-60 lead with 4:26 to play.

But Notre Dame snapped out of its drought with a three-point play by Tyrone Nash and took back the lead, 67-65, when Abromaitis converted a layup at the 2:14 mark. Connecticut had a chance to send it to overtime but could not get off a shot in the final seconds.
Top Game Performances
 
Notre Dame   Connecticut
Ben Hansbrough 21 Scoring Kemba Walker 34
Ben Hansbrough 5 Assists Shabazz Napier 3
Tim Abromaitis 7 Rebounds Kemba Walker 6
Tyrone Nash 7 Free Throws Made Kemba Walker 10
Eric Atkins 1 Steals Jeremy Lamb 1
Ben Hansbrough 1 Blocks Charles Okwandu 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Notre Dame 70 51.0 10-24 8-14 14 30 1 2
Connecticut 67 44.8 4-18 11-11 8 24 2 4