intensity, starting with his alley-oop lob from the top of the key to set up Hicks dunk. Berry then stole the ball from Ray Ona Embo and quickly fed Jackson for a layup. Berry then hit a 3 and adde

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Any thoughts of top-ranked Notre Dame looking past Valparaiso and peeking ahead to Wednesdays clash with No. 2 Connecticut were quickly put to rest Sunday as the Fighting Irish used a 26-0 start to coast to a 114-54 win over Valparaiso.It was a pretty good start, I was happy with that, Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. Were trying to work on a couple different things and I thought we had some urgency and some intensity early on I thought was good.Freshman Jackie Young led six Irish players in double figures with 20 points.Despite hitting 1 of 8 from the field to start the game, the Irish (8-0) scored the first 26 points. During that stretch, Valparaiso attempted just five shots while committing 10 turnovers.Arike Ogunbowale scored 12 points in the decisive first half as the Irish raced to a 72-23 halftime lead. The 72 points tied a school record for most points in a half. Notre Dame hit 30 of 42 shots (71.4 percent) from the field in the opening 20 minutes and 48 of 75 from the field. Notre Dame shot a season-high 64 percent from the field.They came out just on a mission, Valparaiso coach Tracey Dorow said. They put us on our heels early and dominated that whole half, especially the first quarter.Young, a freshman guard, scored her career-high 20 points by hitting 8 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 4 3-pointers.I shot well, but I have a lot to work on and just understanding the defense a little more and then I think Ill get more comfortable, Young said.Ogunbowale finished with 18 for the Irish, Marina Mabrey scored 16, freshman Erin Boley added 15, Brianna Turner chipped in 13 and Kathryn Westbeld had 10.Valparaiso (4-4) was led by Dani Franklin, who scored 18 points as the Crusaders were limited to 22 of 58 from the field (37.9 percent). Valparaiso committed 31 turnovers and Notre Dame pounced. The Irish held a 50-14 advantage in points off turnovers. Notre Dame also outscored Valparaiso 70-16 in the paint. Georgi Donchetz added 10 points for the Crusaders.The 114 points Notre Dame scored fell shy of the school record of 128, which the Irish scored against Mercer in 2011 and Saint Francis in 2012.They could have run the score up on us, Dorow said, and I dont think they did.BIG PICTUREValparaiso: Before Sundays game, Valparaiso had not had a winning record this late in the season since 2008-09.Notre Dame: A challenging stretch awaits the Irish as they host Connecticut next, then embark on a string of six consecutive road games. After Wednesday, Notre Dame will not play at home again until Jan. 5.TIP-INSFormer Notre Dame standout and current associate head coach Niele Ivey was inducted in the schools Ring of Honor. Ivey captained Notre Dames 2001 national championship team. Valparaisos previous trip to Notre Dames Purcell Pavilion came two years ago when former Irish star Skylar Diggins was given the same honor. ... Valparaiso was Notre Dames first opponent in program history. The Irish were 48-41 winners over the Crusaders on Dec. 3, 1977. . Several members of Notre Dames mens team sat near the court and watched the game. The Irish men host North Carolina A&T later Sunday. ... Notre Dames 38 rebounds were a season low. ... The Irish had a season-high 19 steals.UP NEXTValparaiso: After playing on consecutive days, the Crusaders get a bit of a rest, not playing again until Saturday when they host Grace College. Valparaiso faces another quick turnaround, however, when it travels to face Indiana on Sunday.Notre Dame: The Irish host No. 2 Connecticut on Wednesday in a matchup of national powers. Custom Mavericks Jersey China .com) - Yankee Stadium is the home of the Bronx Bombers, but on Sunday afternoon it will open its gates to host the latest addition of the Hudson River Rivalry. Custom Mavericks Jerseys . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. http://www.custommavericksjersey.com/ . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Custom Jason Kidd Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Cheap Custom Mavericks Jersey .4 million title. Ryan Riess emerged with the title after a session in which he started behind, but used expert skill to gather the chips to his side amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold em. Riess put his final opponent Jay Farber all-in with an Ace-King. NEW ORLEANS -- If North Carolina needs more scoring from Justin Jackson this season, early signs are the sixth-ranked Tar Heels are going to get it.Jackson scored a career-high 27 points, guard Joel Berry II added a career-high 23, and No. 6 North Carolina never trailed its overmatched host, defeating Tulane 95-75 on Friday night in the regular season opener for both teams.I would love to keep it up every single game, Jackson said. Ive just got to keep on putting in the work before and after practice so that whenever I step on the court, thats the easy part.He made it look easy, but deferred credit to fellow Tar Heels for getting him open shots.My teammates were finding me. They were setting screens, Jackson said. I just had to step into the shot and knock it down.Jackson hit the first four 3s he attempted and also scored on an array of shots from inside and out, including a driving reverse layup. That came as no surprise to Berry, who was among those looking to get Jackson the ball.Hes worked on his shot a lot, worked on making it, being more consistent, Berry said. Thats what were going to need from him.The game marked the college coaching debut for former NBA player and coach Mike Dunleavy, but his Tulane squad simply lacked the talent to stay with a team that lost last seasons national championship game to Villanova on a last-second shot.We got caught up in the momentum, as opposed to playing the way that we needed to play to give ourselves a chance, Dunleavy said. I liked our effort. Im not going to like some of our film, but thats part of it.Cameron Reynolds scored a career-high 21 points for Tulane, hitting five of six from 3-point range. Tulane struggled to get open looks near the basket against North Carolinas imposing interior, but the Green Wave hit 12 3-pointers to account for nearly half of its points.BIG PICTURENorth Carolina: Berry looks ready to take charge and be a playmaker on both ends. Isaiah Hicks looks formidable from 10 feet in, and Jackson demonstrated that hes ready to contribute a lot more than the 12 points per game he supplied last season as North Carolina looks to repeat as Atlantic Coast Conference champions.Tulane: While there was never any evidence that the Green Wave possessed enough talent tto compete with a traditional college basketball power like North Carolina, Dunleavy has the Green Wave playing with more purpose and poise than they displayed a year ago.dddddddddddd Time will tell if the former NBA coach can make Tulane into a factor in the American Athletic Conference.SUPPORTING CASTSHicks scored 16, and Kennedy Meeks grabbed 15 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who never trailed and led by as many as 21 points. Freshman forward Tony Bradley added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.Kain Harris scored 15 points for Tulane and freshman guard Colin Slater added 14 points in his Green Wave debut.BUCKLING DOWNNorth Carolina, a 21-point favorite coming in, found Tulane to be a feisty opponent early. Trailing 20-19 more than 10 minutes into the game, the Green Wave had several chances to take the lead, but missed two shots and then turned the ball over on a charging foul.Thats about when Berry seemed to infuse the Tar Heels with some extra intensity, starting with his alley-oop lob from the top of the key to set up Hicks dunk. Berry then stole the ball from Ray Ona Embo and quickly fed Jackson for a layup. Berry then hit a 3 and added a free throw to make it 31-22 as North Carolina began to pull away. Berrys second 3 of the game made it 44-29.FOUL BEHAVIOROfficials awarded North Carolina a technical free throw after a fan tossed a mini, palm-size basketball on the court. Officials said it was the second time in the game a fan had tossed an object into play.Dunleavy said he did not know about that rule, but cracked that he would starting taking a Tulane fan to road games with instructions to take a couple balls with you and toss them out there just when I need it.POLL IMPLICATIONSNorth Carolina performed as expected against over-matched Tulane, so voters might be inclined to keep the Tar Heels where they are unless one of the five teams above them stumbles.UP NEXTNorth Carolina plays its home opener on Sunday afternoon against Chattanooga.Tulane returns to its regular, on-campus home venue on Monday night to host Southeastern Louisiana.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '