National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Notre Dame 79, Duke 77
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 4, 2014
Where: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, South Bend, Indiana
Officials: # Doug Shows, # Karl Hess, # Ray Natili
Attendance: 9149

Notre Dame 79, No. 8 Duke 77: Eric Atkins registered 19 points and 11 assists and Pat Connaughton contributed 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Fighting Irish won their first-ever ACC contest with a victory over the visiting Blue Devils.

Garrick Sherman had 14 points and eight boards for Notre Dame (10-4, 1-0), which found out last week that senior captain and leading scorer Jerian Grant was withdrawing from the school due to academics. Atkins, who had 30 points in last weekend's win over Canisius - the Fighting Irish's first game without Grant - posted his first double-double of the season against Duke (11-3, 0-1).

Rodney Hood scored 27 points and Quinn Cook added 22, but the Blue Devils saw their five-game winning streak come to an end. Freshman star Jabari Parker matched a season low with seven points, finishing 2-of-10 from the field and 1-of-5 from behind the arc.

Cook scored five points during a 9-0 run that snapped a 40-all tie and seemingly gave Duke control against the shorthanded Fighting Irish. The lead grew to 60-50 with under 12 minutes to play, but Notre Dame scored 10 straight points, capped by Atkins' jumper, to draw even with about eight minutes remaining.

The game was still close in the final minute, when Sherman's jump hook with 35 seconds to play put Notre Dame ahead 76-73 and Demetrius Jackson's foul shots made it 79-75 with nine seconds remaining. Amile Jefferson's putback made it 79-77 with a second left and the Irish threw away the ensuing inbounds pass, but Tyler Thornton's half-court heave fell way short at the buzzer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Hood scored a game-high 13 points in the first half, including two 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds to help Duke take a 37-35 lead into the break. ... The teams combined for just five turnovers in the first half and totaled 12 turnovers for the game - six by each team. ... Jefferson finished with nine rebounds, while Parker only had four.
Top Game Performances
 
Duke   Notre Dame
Rodney Hood 27 Scoring Eric Atkins 19
Quinn Cook 4 Assists Eric Atkins 11
Amile Jefferson 9 Rebounds Pat Connaughton 8
Rodney Hood 6 Free Throws Made Eric Atkins 5
Quinn Cook 2 Steals Eric Atkins 1
Amile Jefferson 1 Blocks Austin Burgett 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Duke 77 41.4 12-28 17-20 8 26 1 5 6
Notre Dame 79 52.6 6-12 13-24 18 36 6 4 6