Ranked Tilt For NU
The Niagara Purple Eagles, winners of two straight, travel to play at nationally-ranked Notre Dame in an ESPNU televised game on Friday at 7 p.m.

Niagara (5-6) played one of its best defensive games of the season in the win over defending America East champion Vermont last Sunday.  The Purple Eagles, who have won three of their last four, held their second straight opponent to under 60 points while keeping the Catamounts under 40 percent from the field en route to improve to 4-1 at the ‘Taps’ Gallagher Center.

NU heads to Notre Dame (11-1) to close out the calendar year. The 22nd-ranked Irish enter the contest on a nine-game winnings streak and are 44-1 in their last 45 home games, including winning 27 straight against non-conference opponents. The programs will meet for the third time, with the Irish leading the series 2-0. The most recent meeting was exactly seven years ago on Dec. 21, 2005 when the Irish came away with an 80-59 win.

Tipoff Tidbits
~ Niagara is 12-77 all-time against ranked teams. Notre Dame will be the highest ranked team NU has played in the regular season since Dec. 2000 (No. 15 Syracuse).
~ Joe Mihalich won his 250th career game on Dec. 12, 2012. Mihalich, who is the MAAC career leader in wins, is one of 105 (30 percent) active coaches to have at least 250 wins.
~ Antoine Mason leads the team and is third in the MAAC with 19.2 ppg. Mason, who has scored in double figures in every game, has four 20-point games this season.
~ Juan’ya Green has dished out at least four assists in 10 of the 11 games this season. His four assists versus Vermont gave him 200 career assists.
~ NU made a season-high 24 free throws in the win over Vermont.

How To Tune In
Friday’s game will be broadcast on ESPNU and WatchESPN. NU fans can listen live to all the action from “The Voice of the Purple Eagles” Todd Callen. The matchup can be heard live on WWKB 1520 AM. Internet listeners can listen free online through Purple Eagles All-Access.

Mihalich Notches 250th Win
Joe Mihalich won his 250th career win when the Purple Eagles defeated Hartford, 75-59, on Dec. 12. Mihalich, who is in his 15th season as head coach, is the all-time winningest head coach in MAAC history. Out of the 347 Division I programs, only 30 percent (105) of the current head coaches have at least 250 wins.

Red Hot Mason
Sophomore Antoine Mason is playing some of his best basketball of his career this season, especially in the last four games when NU went 3-1. Mason is averaging 19 points per game and shooting 49 percent the field and 90 percent from the free-throw line, while making 22 of his last 23 attempts. Mason tied season-highs with 25 points, four assists and three steals in the win versus Vermont. Mason, who was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team last season, is on pace for career-highs in points, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage.

Under 60
In the wins over Hartford and Vermont, the Purple Eagles held consecutive opponents to under 60 points for the first time since the 2008-09 season when they had a string of five straight games of keeping teams to under 60 points; NU won all five games.

Defensive Contributions Is Key To Wins
A common trend in Niagara’s wins this season has been its defense making the difference. Four of their top five fewest points allowed and the top three games in caused turnovers resulted into wins for the Purple Eagles. In the win versus Vermont, NU held an opponent to under 40 percent shooting for the first time this season.

On The Court
No. 22 Notre Dame (11-1, 0-0 Big East)
Notre Dame is ranked 22nd in this week’s AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll. The Irish are in a midst of a nine-game winning streak and will be playing their fourth game in seven days on Friday.  The Irish have three players averaging in double figures, led by Preseason All-Big East First Team member Jack Cooley, who is averaging a double-double (14.5 ppg and 11.0 rpg). Preseason Big East Honorable Mention honoree is second on the team with 12.1 points per game. Eric Atkins is averaging 10.8 points per game and leads the team with 7.5 assists per game.

Against the Fighting Irish (ND leads 2-0)
This will be the third-ever meeting between the Purple Eagles and Irish. The first meeting was on Feb. 15, 1909 and the most recent occurred on Dec. 21, 2005; Notre Dame won both meetings.

Last Meeting - December 21, 2005
Niagara 59, Notre Dame 80

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Sophomore Charron Fisher scored a game-high 19 points but it wasn’t enough as the Niagara University men’s basketball team (2-6) dropped an 80-59 non-conference game to the University of Notre Dame (6-2) in front of 8,053 fans in the Joyce Center.

Against the Big East
Niagara has a long history with the current members of the Big East Conference. NU has played every school in the current Big East at least once and has played St. John’s, DePaul, Seton Hall, Syracuse and Villanova at least 25 times. The Purple Eagles are 98-207 all-time against the Big East, but did win their last game against a Big East opponent, South Florida, on Dec. 14, 2008 (70-55). 

Against Ranked Opponents
Niagara will play its fifth game against a ranked team since March 2004. This is the first time NU will play a ranked team in consecutive seasons since the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons; the Purple Eagles played at then-No. 24/25 Missouri last season. Niagara is 12-77 all-time against ranked opponents with the last victory coming with an upset of fourth-ranked St. John’s, 62-59, on Dec. 15, 1984 at the Niagara Falls Convention Center.

Making Every Minute Count
Juan’ya Green is second in the conference and 20th in the nation in percentage of minutes played. Green is averaging 36.4 minutes per game and is accounting for 90.9 percentage of minutes played.

Against 2012 NCAA Tourney Teams
NU will play six teams that played in last season’s NCAA Tournament: New Mexico State, St. Bonaventure, Iona (2x), Loyola (2x), Vermont and Notre Dame. NU is 3-2 so far against these teams heading into its game at Notre Dame. NU will host Iona and Loyola in a weekend series.