The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are taking a 33-28 lead into halftime against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Wednesday night as they seek a seventh consecutive victory. The Irish, ranked No. 25 in the nation at the moment, could jump into a second-place tie with No. 13 Marquette in the Big East standings by finishing off a win.
Notre Dame quickly jumped out to take a 14-5 lead in the game's first few minutes, but Rutgers responded with a 6-0 run and eventually trimmed the Irish's lead to 26-24 with just a few minutes left in the half. Notre Dame's shooting during the first half was brutal, but especially from inside the three-point line. The Irish actually shot a very solid 6-of-13 from long range in the first half, but they managed to make just 2-of-14 shots from inside.
Pat Connaughton leads the Irish with 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, with all six of his shooting attempts coming from beyond the three-point line. Notre Dame also got nine points from Jerian Grant, as well as five points and nine rebounds from Jack Cooley. Dane Miller posted a double-double in the first half for Rutgers, notching ten points and ten rebounds.
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