Blacksburg, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - Pat Connaughton made five of Notre Dames 12 3-pointers and the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish cruised to an 85-60 road victory over Virginia Tech on Thursday. Connaughton finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the wire-to-wire win for the Irish (18-2, 6-1 ACC), whose only loss in the last 15 games came against No. 2 Virginia. Jerian Grant totaled 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Zach Auguste added 16 points and eight boards, and Demetrius Jackson scored 12 in the rout. The Hokies (8-10, 0-5) have been trending the opposite way and dropped their sixth straight overall, though the last three came against ranked opponents. Ahmed Hills 13 points paced Virginia Tech in the absence of leading scorer Justin Bibbs, who sat out a second straight game due to a concussion. Auguste was not in the starting lineup the previous two games due to an academic issue that has presumably been resolved. The 6-foot-10 forward wasted little time getting involved in his return with six points in the first four minutes, including a dunk that provided Notre Dame with a 12-4 lead. The margin grew to a dozen, 27-15, following a Grant 3-pointer, and it was a 38-28 difference at halftime. Jackson drained a pair from the long range in the first three minutes of the second half to keep the Irish in front by double digits, and Grant fueled an 8-0 run that extended the lead to 55-34. Grant assisted on a Connaughton 3-pointer, converted a three-point play and fed Auguste for a layup after picking Jalen Hudsons pocket at midcourt. The closest the Hokies got from there was 16 and the largest they trailed was 27. Game Notes Notre Dame is off to its best 20-game start since its 1973-74 team opened 19-1 ... The Irish, who came in second nationally in field goal percentage (.528) connected on 49.2 percent from the field... Notre Dame held a 43-31 rebounding advantage and posted a 3.2 assist-to-turnover ratio (19-to-6) ... Both teams play Sunday as Notre Dame visits NC State and Virginia Tech hosts Virginia. Cheap Rangers Jerseys . Brazilian striker Brandao opened the scoring with a header in the 55th minute before winger Franck Tabanou volleyed home from close range to double the lead in the 61st. Cheap New York Rangers Jerseys .C. -- The Carolina Panthers announced Thursday theyve signed free agent wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery to a two-year contract, helping rebuild a depleted wide receiving corps. http://www.cheapnewyorkrangersjerseys.com/. Redden played a total of 1,023 regular-season games with Ottawa, the New York Rangers, St. Louis and Boston. He finished with 457 points (109 goals, 348 assists) and a plus-160 rating over his career. Cheap Rangers Jerseys Authentic . The 41-year-old Northern Irishman has proved a perfect fit at Liverpool since taking over from Kenny Dalglish in the summer of 2012 and steered the team to an unexpected title challenge in the Premier League last season. Cheap Rangers Jerseys China . Lack replaced an injured Roberto Luongo late in the first period then watched defenceman Chris Tanev score the winning goal midway through the third as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Jets 2-1 in a tight NHL game.IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The way Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan sees it, the 16th-ranked Badgers are playing better because theyre making shots. Theyre also making plays -- and Frank Kaminsky came up two huge ones to beat No. 15 Iowa on Saturday. Kaminsky had 21 points and a crucial late steal as Wisconsin won 79-74 for its fifth straight win after a 1-5 stretch marked by poor shooting. Sam Dekker added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Badgers (22-5, 9-5 Big Ten), who swept the season series and moved a half-game ahead of the Hawkeyes (19-7, 8-5) in the Big Ten standings. "We like to get into our classroom and in the gym and teach guys things. Show them film, work with them," Ryan said. "Frank is one of those guys thats doing a heck of a job on his learning curve. Hes really been pretty sharp." No one was sharper than Kaminsky in the final 36 seconds. Josh Oglesbys jumper with 1:01 left put Iowa up 72-71, but Kaminsky answered with a jumper that gave Wisconsin a one-point lead. Kaminsky then stripped Iowas Roy Devyn Marble under the basket and hit two free throws as the Badgers went up 75-72 with 24.5 seconds left. "He was trying to make a play, and he presented the ball and I just hit it out of his hands. Thats one of those plays where its kind of up to the (referee) to see what theyre going to call. I thought I got it clean," Kaminsky said of the steal. "Im just happy it came out in our favour." Marble had 21 points and 11 assists for the Hawkeyes, who lost their third home game in four tries. Marble could have milked the shot clock down to just over a second on the games biggest play. He instead attacked the rim and paid for it with a turnover that the Hawkeyes didnt recover from. "You call a play and then hes got to read it. Thats what he did," Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. This was just the second game in two weeks for Iowa. The Hawkeyes were off ahead of last Saturdays 82-70 win at Penn State, and Tuesdays postponement at Indiana gave the Hawkeyes an extra week off. After a ratheer rusty start, Iowa asserted itself in the second half.dddddddddddd Marble hit a 3 and Aaron White followed with a strong drive to the hoop that put the Hawkeyes ahead 62-58 with 6:27 left. The Badgers seemed flummoxed at times by Iowas zone defence, scoring just 20 points in the first 16 minutes of the second half. Still, Wisconsin tied it at 66-all with 3:18 left on a three-point play by Nigel Hayes, and freshman Bronson Koenigs jumper put the Badgers ahead 71-70 with 1:21 left. "Hes a good player. Youre going to see a lot more of him over the next few years," Ryan said of Koenig, who had a career-high 12 points. Iowa was forced to make a rare lineup change. Forward Zach McCabe started in place of Melsahn Basabe, who was limited to just a minute because of illness. Basabe is one of Iowas top interior defenders, and the Badgers took advantage of his absence early on. Wisconsin hit 12 of its first 16 shots, and Dekkers 3 put the Badgers ahead 34-24. Wisconsin shot 57 per cent from the field in the first half, and Koenig matched his previous career high of 10 points in just 10 minutes as the Badgers led 40-31. But Wisconsin missed its first six shots after the break and Iowa eventually retook the lead, 52-51, with 10:55 left. Oglesby matched a season high with 17 points for Iowa. But White was held to just four points, and McCabes 3-point attempt with less than 20 seconds left and the Hawkeyes down 3 never reached the rim. "It didnt come out of his hand cleanly, but he was wide open," McCaffery said of McCabe. "I dont think hell make any excuses." Kaminsky shares Ryans assertion that shot-making has keyed Wisconsins recent surge. But Kaminsky added that the belief that those shots are going to fall has been whats really reinvigorated the Badgers over the past three weeks. "Having the confidence to step up and take those shots is back. I think we had that at the star