BIG SECOND HALF POWERS IRISH TO 8-1 START

Notre Dame found themselves in quite a tussle with Central Florida for 20 minutes. The Irish went into halftime tied at 41 with the visitors after a Tim Abromaitis bucket at the buzzer tied the score. It was just a small contribution as the Irish Junior Shined in First Start (Journal Gazette), scoring 31 points for the game and helping the Irish break things open in the second half on their way to a 90-72 win at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. Abromaitis and Luke Harangody Help Irish Improve to 8-1 (NWI Times) as Harangody added 29 points and 7 rebounds in the win.

The Irish got a slight scare late in the game when Buena Vista's Tory Jackson Twisted an Ankle Late in ND's Win (MLive.com) and did not return to the game. Irish Coach Mike Brey told the press after the game that Jackson could have returned, but with the game in hand they took the conservative approach to prevent the chance of additional injury. Jackson had an excellent floor game running the Irish offense with 9 assists and zero turnovers in 27 minutes.

Abromaitis' Big Day Powered the Irish (South Bend Tribune) early as he tied his career high of 17 points before intermission and picked up the slack for Harangody who missed the final 5:40 of the first half with three personal fouls.

The Irish return to action on Wednesday inside Purcell Pavilion when they host IUPUI.

With his father, Michael Jordan, watching from the upper press box, freshman Marcus Jordan was 4-of-4 shooting for nine points in 20 minutes for UCF.