Jan. 29--SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Rarely has there been as much excitment around a college basketball game at Notre Dame as there is Wednesday night.
No. 8 Notre Dame tipped against No. 4 Duke, whose coach, Mike Krzyzewski, recently earned his 1,000th career win against St. John's on Sunday.
Guard Jerian Grant had 13 points at halftime for Notre Dame, but the Irish committed eight turnovers.
The last time two top ten teams met in South Bend was 2003 when the Irish faced Pittsburgh, a game Notre Dame won in the final seconds. Wednesday's game is a hot ticket, with tickets going for at least $179 on the ticket-selling website Stubhub earlier Wednesday.
To win Wednesday, Notre Dame will have to limit Duke center Jahlil Okafor, the Young graduate who is averaging 18.5 points per game. Okafor is at the top of several ACC and conference player of the year watch lists.
Okafor had 11 points and nine rebounds at halftime Wednesday. Quinn Cook scored 13 points on 5 of 5 shooting for Duke.
The Irish counter with a big-time player of their own in Grant, who is averaging 17.1 points per game. There figures to be a lot of points in this matchup, with both team rating in the top five in offensive efficiency, according to kenpom.com. Both have also had issues defensively this season.
chine@tribpub.com
Twitter @ChristopherHine
