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Big East’s never seen a game like Marshon Brooks had

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Marshon Brooks was so good Wednesday night, he outscored two Big East teams by himself.

Too bad one of them wasn’t Notre Dame.

The Providence senior dumped 52 on the Irish during a 94-93 loss, setting a conference scoring record, tying a school mark and outdoing both Georgetown and DePaul in the process. The Friars swingman missed just eight shots and was unstoppable throughout the night, but It’ll go down as a slightly bittersweet memory.

“I just wanted to come out and be aggressive. If we were going to lose, I just wanted it to be because of me. That’s how I felt, honestly,” Brooks told the Providence Journal.

“It’s not even about the 52. It’s the losing, period.”

Don’t feel too badly, Marshon. You wowed everyone, including the Notre Dame players.

“It was like, ‘Did he just hit that shot? Did he just hit that shot?’” Irish guard Ben Hansbrough said afterward. “I think we were a lot more poised, especially against one of the best performances ever.”

Brooks’ 52 points tied Lamar’s Mike James for the highest total this season, and is just the 20th time a college player has topped 50 points in the last 15 years, according to StatSheet. He got his name in the Big East record books by topping Eric Murdock’s record of 48 set against Pitt in ’91, and tied Marvin Barnes’ overall school record.

The 6-5 Brooks – the nation’s second-leading scorer behind BYU’s Jimmer Fredette – was a marvel, scoring on drives, mid-range jumpers, 3-pointers and at the line. He didn’t just jack up a ton of shots, either. Brooks hit 20 of 28 shots, including 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, good for 1.59 PPWS.

That’s when the cliché applies: He was in a zone.

“I’m thrilled that we escaped with a win,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a performance like that by a young man. That was outstanding.”

You also can follow me on Twitter @MikeMillerNBC.