Notre Dame 71, West Virginia 44

By John Antonik for WVUsports.com
February 22, 2012 10:10 PM

Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton, left, battles for a loose ball with West Virginia guard Paul Williamson in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in South Bend, Ind.

AP Photo

Jerian Grant scored 20 points and Notre Dame shot a sizzling 61.9 percent from the floor to run away with a 71-44 victory over West Virginia Wednesday night at Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, Ind.

Tonight’s 27-point defeat was the Mountaineers’ worst since losing by 38, 84-46, at Villanova on Jan. 5, 2005, and it was Coach Bob Huggins’ worst loss since falling 97-70 at Kansas on Feb. 7 , 2007 when he was coaching at Kansas State.

The 44 points scored tonight were a season low for the Mountaineers this year and the fewest since scoring 39 in a 23-point loss to Cincinnati on Jan. 30, 2008.

“This game is such a mindset and when your mind is not right it’s hard,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “It’s kind of like people who play golf - it’s hard to get turned. When it starts going south it’s hard to get it turned.”

Believe it or not, West Virginia actually led the Irish by as much as five, 19-14, with nine minutes to go in the first half and had a chance to take the lead at halftime down two with the ball. But the Mountaineers made just one field goal (Deniz Kilicli basket with 17:39 remaining) during an 11-minute stretch to start the second half and the 20th-ranked Irish got whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted.

“We didn’t get anything in transition and they did get things in transition, obviously, and when you’re constantly playing with positive numbers it bodes well for you and they played with positive numbers all night,” said Huggins.

Notre Dame was 27 of 44 overall from the floor, including 9 of 16 from 3-point range. Scott Martin, who finished with 15, and Eric Atkins, who added 13, combined to make 14 of their 22 field goal attempts. Sixteen days ago in Morgantown, those two were just 7 of 26 from the floor.

Jack Cooley also contributed 13 points and six rebounds as Notre Dame outscored West Virginia 41-16 in the second half. Ironically, 16 points is what West Virginia scored in the first half in the earlier game this year in Morgantown, a four-point Notre Dame win.

The Irish also had 17 assists.

“It got to a point in time when I asked a couple of them, ‘Is there anybody on their team you can guard? Just tell me who it is and we’ll put you on him,’” said Huggins.

The loss was West Virginia’s 11th straight in Purcell Pavilion dating back to 1996. The Mountaineers have won only three times ever in this facility.

Kevin Jones led WVU with 15 points and eight rebounds, including grabbing the 1,000th rebound of his career. Jones is one of just five players in school history to pull down 1,000 rebounds: The other four are Jerry West (1,240), Lloyd Sharrar (1,178), Warren Baker (1,070) and Willie Bergines (1,025).

Baker was the last Mountaineer to do it 26 years ago.

The victory was a school-record ninth in a row for the Irish and now gives them 20 wins for the season. West Virginia drops to 17-11, 7-8, and has only one day of preparation before facing 10th-ranked Marquette on Friday night at the Coliseum.

“You score and you want to celebrate and you look up at your mother in the stands and they’re running by you shooting a layup,” said Huggins of Marquette. “You want to run down there and put your hands on your knees and they’re kicking it to somebody for a 3.”

Marquette, which defeated Rutgers at home tonight, will bring a 23-5 overall record into Morgantown.

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