Irish keep streak alive

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame coach Mike Brey congratulated his team on tying the Joyce Center record by winning its 24th straight home game.

Not too much, though.

"I told them, 'Congratulations. I'm going to shake your hand next Saturday when you break it,'" Brey said.

Victim No. 24 was Eastern Michigan. Kyle McAlarney scored 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Luke Harangody added 18 points to lead the Irish to a 76-65 victory. The Irish were in control after closing the first half on an 8-0 run and opening the second half on a 6-0 spurt to open a 49-32 lead.

"We ended the half with a couple of stops and started the second half with a couple more stops. That's really important to us," McAlarney said. "If we can get a couple of stops in a row our energy gets really high and our offense gets into the game."

Brey said he wasn't bothered that Eastern's Justin Dobbins had a career-high 26 points, saying he wanted the Irish (5-2) to focus on keeping the Eagles from getting 3-pointers. Eastern's leading scorer, Jesse Bunkley at 15.4 points a game, was held to six points on 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point range.

Ryan Ayers added 12 points as the Irish shot a season-high 56.3 percent. McAlarney was 5-of-7 from 3-point range and Ayers was 3-of-4. Zane Gay added 14 points for the Eagles (3-4) on 5-of-5 shooting. The Eagles shot 48 percent, the best by an Irish opponent this season.

Brey said the Eagles did a good job of slowing the Irish with their deliberate offense.

"They took 30 seconds off the clock a lot of times, so the tempo of the game was a little unusual. You had to have real defensive patience," he said.

The Irish players said they were pleased to tie the win streak record at the Joyce Center, which opened in 1968.

"Tying it is a good accomplishment, but breaking it is our main goal," guard Tory Jackson said.

The Irish, who went 18-0 at home last season, will attempt to break the 33-year-old record Saturday against Northern Illinois.

The streak has included two wins over ranked teams, 99-85 against No. 4 Alabama a year ago and 61-58 against No. 21 West Virginia last Jan. 9. It also includes wins against Louisville, Villanova, DePaul and Marquette.

Jackson said the streak gives the Irish a psychological edge.

"If we can make teams fear us before they even come in here, that's a big asset," he said. "When they come in here they have fear in their heart."

If the Irish can keep the streak up for another 15 games, in March they would break the school record of 38 straight home wins set in the old fieldhouse from 1943-48. To accomplish that, they would need wins against West Virginia, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Providence, DePaul, Marquette and Pittsburgh.

For now, though, the Irish are aiming at the Joyce Center record.

"It's just about protecting our home court," Harangody said. "It was one of our goals this year to break the streak."