Senior forward Tim Abromaitis has tallied a game-best 14 points and six rebounds for the No. 2-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who lead the No. 7 Cincinnati Bearcats, 40-30, at halftime of a 2011 Big East Tournament quarterfinal contest at Madison Square Garden. The winner will advance to play the winner of Thursday's night camp contest between No. 3 Louisville Cardinals and No. 11 Marquette Golden Eagles.
The Irish (25-5 and ranked No. 4 in both college basketball polls), helped by 3-pointers from senior guards Scott Martin, Ben Hansbrough and Abromaitis, took an early 11-3 advantage in the game's first four and a half minutes. Notre Dame extended their 10-points, 20-10, and kept it their until the end of the half. Senior Carleton Scott chipped in with 12 points, while Hansbrough added nine and Martin had five. The Irish are 8-of-16 from behind the 3-pointer arc.
Junior guard Dion Dixon has a team-best 10 points for Cincinnati (25-7), which routed No. 15 South Florida Bulls, 87-61, Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals. Freshman guard Sean Kilpatrick has netted seven-bench points. As a team, the Bearcats are shooting 12-of-32 (37.5 percent) from the floor.