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Irish show no signs of rust with easy win at DePaul

Feb 4, 2011 - 7:22 AM Rosemont, IL (Sports Network) - Ben Hansbrough scored 24 points and No. 9 Notre Dame cruised to an 83-58 victory over DePaul on Thursday to run its winning streak to four games.

Scott Martin added 15 points, Tim Abromaitis scored 13 and Tyrone Nash had 10 for a well-rested Notre Dame team that was coming off a nine-day break.

The Fighting Irish (18-4, 7-3 Big East) had been off since upsetting then-No. 2 Pittsburgh on January 24 -- the signature win in their very good season.

They eased back into action against the worst team in the Big East.

"I thought the layoff helped us. We got energized," said Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey. "It was great this week in practice and I thought our energy was very good here. We were excited to compete."

DePaul remained winless in-conference while losing by double-digits for the eighth time in its nine Big East games.

Brandon Young led the Blue Demons (6-15, 0-9) with 16 points and Moses Morgan added 10.

Notre Dame scored the game's first seven points and never trailed, but its lead was just 22-20 midway through the first half after DePaul's Jimmy Drew buried a three-pointer.

One long run took care of things.

The Irish finished the half with a 15-4 burst and carried a 37-24 lead into the break behind 46 percent shooting.

Hansbrough scored 11 in the first half, then opened the second with a trey to give the Irish a 16-point lead and extend their overall run to 18-4.

"I thought we controlled tempo when we needed to and defended well," said Brey.

DePaul was never in it after that, while Notre Dame's lead ballooned as high as 26 points several times down the stretch.

Game Notes

The Irish shot 51 percent from the field, including 56 percent in the second half...The Blue Demons shot 35 percent...Notre Dame leads the all-time series 57-44...The only Big East game DePaul hasn't lost by double-digits was a 67-65 setback against West Virginia on January 4.