Harangody pushes Irish past Hoyas

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/05/2009 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Harangody finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, as 13th-ranked Notre Dame beat No. 9 Georgetown, 73-67, in a Big East clash at the Joyce Center.

Kyle McAlarney added 17 points for Notre Dame (11-3, 2-1 Big East), which ran its winning streak at home to 44 games -- the longest such streak in the nation. Tory Jackson chipped in 10 points and seven assists for the Fighting Irish, who rebounded from a loss Saturday at St. John's to record their fifth win in six games.

Greg Monroe had 21 points and 10 boards to pace Georgetown (10-3, 1-2), which has lost two in a row, having also dropped a 70-54 decision at home Saturday to now-No.1 Pittsburgh.

Chris Wright scored 13, and DaJuan Summers added 11, but the Hoyas had trouble finding an offensive rhythm, ending 4-for-18 on three-point attempts and 13- of-22 at the free throw line.

Harangody provided the rhythm for Notre Dame, as he was dominating in the paint and powered the Irish at the end of the first half. Most of the opening stanza was close, and Jason Clark made a layup to bring Georgetown within 26-25 with just over four minutes left.

But Notre Dame ended the half on a 13-3 run -- during which Harangody scored all of Notre Dame's points. The reigning Big East player of the year, Harangody had two jumpers following Clark's layup to start the surge, and after two misses from the Hoyas, he got a layup to fall while being fouled with 2:54 on the clock.

The free throw put the Irish up by eight, and he added a jumper a short while later to put ND's lead in double digits.

Austin Freeman then added one free throw for Georgetown, but Harangody countered with two from the line. He added two more from the stripe after a Wright layup, giving Notre Dame a 39-28 lead going into intermission.

Georgetown opened the second half with a seven-point burst -- a trey from Jessie Sapp and two Monroe layups got the Hoyas within 39-35. But they didn't completely close the gap, as Harangody countered with a jumper.

Notre Dame continued to lead by several possessions until McAlarney drained back-to-back triples late in the second half. The second, coming with 6:41 left, pushed the Irish lead to 61-48.

The Hoyas made one lash push in the final minutes, and managed to get within 67-62 when the lefty Monroe made a nice move in the paint, turning quickly and floating in a basket.

But Georgetown fouled Jackson with 53.6 seconds remaining, and he made both to give the Irish a seven-point lead -- too much of a deficit for the visitors to overcome.

Game Notes

Notre Dame hosts Seton Hall on Saturday...Georgetown hosts Providence on Saturday...The Irish were 8-for-21 from three-point range, and 15-of-16 on foul shots...The nation's longest home winning streak before Notre Dame claimed the title was BYU, whose 53-game streak was ended Saturday against Wake Forest...Georgetown still leads the all-time series between the schools, 14-11, but had a four-game winning streak snapped.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
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Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

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