NEW YORK

Big East Player of the Year Troy Murphy capped off Notre Dame's 74-62 win over Rutgers by nailing two free throws with 35.8 seconds remaining in regulation, but the result was never really in question.

The Irish (18-13) came out as the aggressors early on, jumping out to a 13-3 advantage over the Scarlet Knights (15-15) on a 3-pointer by senior Jimmy Dillon and eight straight points by freshman Matt Carroll.

"I think that's probably the biggest thing, starting out," Notre Dame head coach Matt Doherty said. "You talk about being the aggressor, jumping out early, and we've done that the last two games."

The Scarlet Knights closed the gap to six with consecutive 3-pointers by freshman Todd Billet, who burned the Irish for 31 points in the teams' last meeting. The Scarlet Knights took advantage of several Irish turnovers to pull as close as four with 12 minutes remaining in the first period.

Then Murphy began to pay Rutgers back for reining him in during Notre Dame's January loss at Rutgers. He scored his first points of the evening by knocking down two free throws, followed up by a baseline jumper on the next possession. After that, the Irish never led by less than eight.

"The last time I made it too much about playing against Rutgers," said Murphy, a New Jersey native. "[I was] going out there and playing against the whole team and trying to do everything and it really got to me. Today I just tried to focus on the game. I think a lot of times I tried forcing shots the last game."

The Irish took as large as a 17-point first-half lead, shooting 50 percent from the field. They out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights 23-14 in the first half, behind nine boards by Murphy.

"They got off to such a terrific start at both ends," Rutgers coach Kevin Bannon said. "They played their zone very, very well. We didn't get a lot of good looks early. We missed some shots early, and I think we lost some offensive confidence. But I think most important; they just did a great job of running their offense. They got us onto our heels."

Ahead 37-22 at half-time, the Irish maintained a double-digit lead through most of the game. The only potential concern was foul trouble. Starting forwards David Graves and Harold Swanagan tallied four with eight minutes remaining, and Murphy picked up his fourth foul in the final minutes.

The physical play left blood on Murphy's jersey, who took the banging and bruising in stride.

"I'm not really sure whose blood it was," Murphy said. "You have bumps and bruises throughout the game, and all of a sudden, the ref comes up to you and tells you that you have blood on your jersey. Every game has been physical throughout this entire Big East season, and I don't expect it to be any different in the tournament."

Murphy led all scorers with 25 points and 14 rebounds in 40 minutes of play. In last year's Big East tournament opener, he scored 25 and pulled down 15 rebounds.

Hot shooting by the rest of the Irish roster helped remove pressure from the sophomore forward.

"When they made shots early, we knew that was going to be tough," Bannon said. "When they're making shots, that just gives Troy that much more room to operate. When you have to worry about both, that's when this is a team that can play with anybody in the country, in my estimation."

Wednesday's win, Notre Dame's first ever in the Big East tournament, relied on strong efforts by the entire team.

The Irish held the Scarlet Knights to 37 percent shooting in the game, a number tough to overcome when your opponent out-rebounds you.

They held Billet to 16 and junior guard Jeff Greer to 10. The Scarlet Knights' leading scorer was Dahntay Jones with 19.

In addition to Murphy, Notre Dame had three players in double figures — Graves, Swanagan and freshman Jere Macura each scored 10 points.

"It was a great win for us," Doherty said. "We were embarrassed at Rutgers about a month-and-a-half ago. We had a lot to prove to ourselves and, I guess to other people, that we can play against a tough, physical, man-to-man defensive team."

The Irish continue their quest for a Big East Championship at 7 p.m. tonight against the Miami Hurricanes.

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