National Basketball Association
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
By SportsDirect Inc.
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 |
|