Marquette University
Notre Dame
No. 16 Notre Dame Outlasts Marquette, 80-75
1/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2011
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SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Ben Hansbrough scored a career-high 28 points and keyed a second-half spurt that rallied No. 16 Notre Dame to an 80-75 victory Saturday against Marquette.
Hansbrough, who was 10-for-15 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line, scored seven consecutive points during a critical juncture midway through the second half to help the Fighting Irish (16-4, 5-3 in the Big East) come back from a 12-point deficit.
''Ben makes us believe,'' Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. ''He drives us. At crunch time, he is the guy who made us think we could win.
''We let the old guys [the Irish's five senior starters] go out and win it for us in the second half, and that meant pulling [freshman] Eric Atkins off the floor. That put the ball in Ben's hands a lot more at point guard, and he was able to create.''
Tyrone Nash added 13 points, Atkins 12 points, Carleton Scott 11 points and 10 rebounds and Scott Martin 10 points for Notre Dame, which improved to 13-0 at home this season. Darius Johnson-Odom scored 25 points and Jae Crowder 15 to pace the Golden Eagles (13-7, 4-3).
The Irish trailed by 11 before going on a 13-2 tear to tie the score at 53 on two free throws by Hansbrough with 14:20 left. He then put on a show, making an off-balance three-pointer from the corner to beat the shot clock and slamming down a dramatic dunk to give Notre Dame a 62-57 lead with 8:49 left.
''On that three-pointer, I just turned around and let it fly,'' Hansbrough said. ''As soon as I let it go, I had a feeling it was in. It was right on line, and I just got lucky. On the dunk, I had the angle. .??.??. I've been working on doing that in practice, and the opportunity came up there. I just went up strong, and it went in.''
After a strong first half, Marquette went cold in the second, shooting only 9-for-30.
