Postgame Notes
No. 2 Notre Dame 89, No. 7 Cincinnati 51
Records: Notre Dame (26-5); Cincinnati (25-8)

Notre Dame advances to the BIG EAST Championship semifinals for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time overall. The Irish will face winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal game between No. 3-seeded Louisville and No. 11-seeded Marquette.

The 38-point win stands as the second-largest margin of victory in a BIG EAST Championship game, behind Syracuse’s 96-55 win against Boston College in the 1999 tournament.

Notre Dame improved to 4-4 in quarterfinal-round play in the BIG EAST Championship. The Irish are 0-3 all-time in the semifinals.

Dating to last year’s semifinal loss to West Virginia, Notre Dame has committed just nine combined turnovers in its last two tournament games. The Irish had just five turnovers against Cincinnati tonight.

Notre Dame set BIG EAST Championship team highs in field goal percentage (56.1 percent) and assists (22) and matched its tournament best with six blocks.

Notre Dame made eight of its nine 3-point field goals in the first half.

Notre Dame has won its opening game in the BIG EAST Championship in each of the last three years.

Cincinnati allowed a season-high 89 points tonight. The Bearcats entered the game leading the BIG EAST in scoring defense (59.2 ppg).

Cincinnati’s 51 points matched the Bearcats’ fewest in a BIG EAST tournament game, while the 89 points for Notre Dame are the most by a Bearcat opponent in the tournament.

Cincinnati fell to 0-2 all-time in the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinal round.