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No. 14 Notre Dame dismantles Hartford

Dec 31, 2014 - 5:16 AM South Bend, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Demetrius Jackson scored 18 points and Pat Connaughton supplied 16 in 14th-ranked Notre Dame's 87-60 win over Hartford on Tuesday.

Jerian Grant and Zach Auguste each chipped in with 15 points for the Irish (13-1), who have won nine straight.

"We have guys that can make shots and want to shoot the ball," Jackson said. "That really makes it tough on other teams to guard us. I also think we have very good decision makers on this team and the guys make it easy for each other and that makes the game that much simpler."

Mark Nwakamma paced the Hawks (7-6) with 16 points to go along with six rebounds and Yolonzo Moore added 12 points in the loss.

"They're as explosive an offensive team as there is in college basketball," Hartford coach John Gallagher said of Notre Dame. "You could argue that they're going to cause everybody in the country trouble. We knew the task that we had in front of us and as far as our program goes, I thought we got out of character."

The Hawks got off to a strong start as Nwakamma opened and closed a 10-3 run with a pair of baskets. Notre Dame stormed back, however, ripping off eight straight points in less than a minute to grab the lead.

The Irish ended the final 6 1/2 minutes of the half on a 14-5 run. Jackson scored the final four points of the spurt to help the hosts to a 43-28 advantage at the break.

Auguste scored the final five points of a 16-4 run that stretched the lead to 75-45 and the Irish won it going away.

Game Notes

This marked the first game between the schools ... Auguste and Connaughton each had seven rebounds in the win ... Notre Dame shot 53 percent from the floor and held Hartford to 45 percent shooting.