Irish down No. 15 Marquette for fourth straight win

4:28 PM, Feb 4, 2012   |    comments
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South Bend, IN (Sports Network) - Pat Connaughton drained five three-pointers en route to a game-high 23 points, as Notre Dame earned its fourth straight win and snapped Marquette's seven-game winning streak with a 76-59 victory over the 15th-ranked Eagles at the Joyce Center.

Eric Atkins scored 18 points and Jerian Grant chipped in 12 for the surging Fighting Irish (15-8, 7-3 Big East), who have beaten three ranked teams as part of their winning streak. Notre Dame beat then-unbeaten and No. 1 Syracuse to start the run and also knocked off a ranked Connecticut squad in its last outing last Sunday.

Connaughton finished 5-for-8 from three-point range as part of a 9-for-12 overall effort. The Irish shot 50 percent overall and connected on 11-of-23 from three-point territory.

Conversely, Marquette made just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc and 39.1 percent overall. Darius Johnson-Odom and Vander Blue each scored 12 points for the Eagles (19-5, 8-3), who hadn't lost since a 73-66 setback at Syracuse on January 7.

The Sports Network