No. 20 Notre Dame beats West Virginia 71-44

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jerian Grant scored 20 points and No. 20 Notre Dame extended its winning streak to nine games with a 71-44 rout of West Virginia on Wednesday night.

Scott Martin added 15 points and Jack Cooley and Eric Atkins had 13 each for the Irish, who shot 61 percent. They outscored the Mountaineers 41-16 in the second half after leading by just two points at the break.

The Irish (20-8, 12-3 Big East) have not lost since Jan. 16 at Rutgers and are 15-1 at the Purcell Pavilion. It's the first time in program history Notre Dame has won nine straight Big East games.

The Mountaineers (17-11, 7-8) have lost six of their last eight. Kevin Jones had 15 points for West Virginia, which shot just 31.5 percent and made only 6 of 27 field goal attempts after halftime.

Notre Dame's quickness began to show in the first 5 minutes of the second half after the Irish led 30-28 at halftime.

Atkins' three-point play, a steal leading to a dunk by Grant and Grant's 3-pointer after an offensive rebound built a 10-point lead. After a timeout, Atkins hit a jumper and Martin connected on a 3-pointer and the 17-4 run put the Irish up 47-32.

Grant took off on a dunk attempt with just less than 10 minutes to play and lost the ball on his way to the rim. But he hustled and came up with the ball in the corner and hit a 3-pointer to give the Irish a 58-35 lead.

Just to show how things have been going for the Irish, Cooley tossed up a shot after a timeout had been called and it swished through late in the first half. He scored nine of his 11 points in the final 5 minutes of the first half as the Irish shrugged off a sluggish start and took a two-point lead behind 63 percent shooting.

West Virginia's Darryl Bryant, scoreless in the first meeting between the teams, a 55-51 Irish win in Morgantown on Feb. 8, had 10 points in the first half and none in the second.