7:59 a.m. EST, March 2, 2011

Each half of each Notre Dame men’s basketball game often starts with a similar and simple scenario — get senior captain Ty Nash a low-post touch, which helps loosen the defense and gets everyone into an offensive flow.

But when handed a gift too tempting to resist, the Irish have to accept, even if it means they stray from that interior strategy.

Such was the case Monday, when No. 19 Villanova continuously dared No. 8 Notre Dame to fire from the 3-point arc. The Irish, who don’t lean on the 3 as heavily as other conference colleagues, were happy to oblige.

By the time a 93-72 Irish victory ended, the home team had connected on a school record 20 3-pointers, which tied a Big East record.

Nash was willing to bypass any banging near the basket so his buddies could get a plethora of open perimeter looks. He figured from the night’s first points — an uncontested 3 from Carleton Scott — that the Irish might be on the verge of something special.

Notre Dame connected on four of its first five 3s, led by 10 before the first media timeout and shot 62.5 percent from 3, a school record for a Big East game.

"I was like, ‘Man, what did we eat for breakfast today?’" Nash said. "We should eat that every day."

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not every day that Notre Dame (24-5 overall, 13-4 Big East) leans so heavily on the 3-pointer. Prior to Monday, three league teams attempted more 3s this season than Notre Dame (562) — Louisville (704), Providence (601) and Georgetown (565). Notre Dame’s previous highs for 3s made and attempted in league games were nine on four occasions, and 27 at West Virginia.

Monday’s 32 attempts were the most in an 83-game span, since Notre Dame squeezed off 33 on Jan. 17, 2009 during a 19-point loss at Syracuse.

"We’ve been kind of take what the defense gives you," said coach Mike Brey. "We kept getting shots and we kept making shots."

And the Irish made it look easy.

During one sequence late in the second half, with the Irish up by 27 points and caressing the clock, guard Ben Hansbrough dribbled near center court and Tim Abromaitis floated to the corner close to the Notre Dame bench.

The Villanova scouting report likely stresses that when the Irish go into that "burn" mode, Hansbrough will look to finish with a hard drive to the hoop.

When Hansbrough was doubled and Dominic Cheek drifted from Abromaitis to defend another Irish player, Hansbrough snapped up his dribble and zipped a pass to the corner. Abromaitis then connected on the seventh of his nine 3s, which tied an arena record.

"You see one go down and you kind of get a feel for it and you get confident," said Abromaitis. "You just picture it going down every time you shoot it."

 

One-two punch

Nash considers himself and Scott to be Batman and Robin for their ability to work so well together, but no Irish duo has been more dynamic of late than Abromaitis and Hansbrough.

The senior captains combined for 103 points in wins over Providence (60) and Seton Hall (43). They then tag-teamed for another 60 — 30 each — against Villanova.