SOUTH BEND, Ind. Tim Teufel Jersey . -- Notre Dame sent quite the message in its Atlantic Coast Conference debut. Eric Atkins scored 19 points, Pat Connaughton had 16 and the Fighting Irish upset No. 7 Duke 79-77 on Saturday. The victory comes in the wake of leading scorer Jerian Grants dismissal from school two weeks ago for an academic violation and provides a much-needed confidence boost as the Irish begin play in their new league. "Its really important for our group given the two weeks weve had to feel like, Hey, we may still have a shot at this thing. Because nobody else thought we had a shot," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. Atkins scored seven points during a decisive 20-4 run as Notre Dame rallied from a 10-point deficit and held on to win two weeks after squandering an eight-point lead in the final 50 seconds against No. 3 Ohio State at Madison Square Garden. "It definitely gives us a lot of life. Everybodys confidence is up now, winning such a big game," Atkins said. The Irish (10-4, 1-0) improved to 13-6 against top-10 teams at home under Brey. It was the first loss in an ACC opener for the Blue Devils (11-3, 0-1) in seven seasons. Rodney Hood, who led the Blue Devils with 27 points, said Duke played like an immature team, allowing the Irish to hold the ball for long periods and then score as the shot clock ticked down. "When we needed a stop, we didnt get a stop," Hood said. "We had some balls go in and out, but I can name at least 10 plays where it was a breaking point and we didnt pull it off." Duke used a 9-0 run to open a 49-40 lead early in the second half and stretched the lead to 60-50 when Andre Dawkins made a 3 from the top of the key with about 11 minutes left. But when Notre Dame went to a small lineup to try to guard the Blue Devils better from behind the arc, Demetrius Jackson hit a 3 to spark the 20-4 run. "I thought that was the biggest shot of the game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "If we get a stop, we could have gone up by 12. That was a huge shot." Atkins tied the game on a layup, and then followed with another basket inside on a pass from Connaughton. Steve Vasturia, who wasnt getting much playing time before Grant was dismissed, hit a 3-pointer to give the Irish a 68-64 lead after Duke freshman Jabari Parker, who struggled all game, badly missed a 3. "That was a huge shot to really make us believe," Brey said. The Blue Devils closed within one point twice in the final 2 minutes, but the Irish didnt wilt under the pressure. Atkins made a layup after Duke cut it to 72-71, and then Garrick Sherman hit a free throw with 16 seconds left after missing the first. Duke still had a chance to tie the game, but Hood dribbled too deep and had a pass stolen by Jackson. Each team finished with six turnovers. Krzyzewski blamed the loss on Dukes defence. "We just stopped playing the defence that we were playing," he said. Sherman had 14 points as the Irish outscored Duke 44-16 in the paint. Quinn Cook had 22 points for Duke, which was 12 of 28 from beyond the arc, one shy of its season high. Parker, who grew up 90 miles away in Chicago, failed to score in double figures for the first time this season. He missed his first four shots, including a 12-foot baseline air ball, and had a jumper blocked by Austin Burgett. Cook looked frustrated at the end of the first half when it appeared Parker ran the wrong play. Parker had seven points on 2-for-10 shooting and wasnt in the game at the end. "He just wasnt having a good game," Krzyzewski said. Brey said good team defence played a role in Parkers off day. "I think there was a great team awareness of him. I wish we could have used some of that on Hood," he said. Brey improved to 1-1 against his former boss. "Its a historic day for us, our first ACC game," Brey said. "To beat a program like Dukes will always be a great memory for us starting off in Atlantic Coast Conference play." Randy Niemann Jersey . The 27-year-old hit .209 in 86 at-bats last year after missing the 2010 season following surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Sam Haggerty Jersey . After the loss, White refused to make good on the bet, instead offering Hoyt tickets to a Bears game.CHICAGO -- The San Francisco Giants on Wednesday became the first team since 1986 to win a protest filed with Major League Baseball, and will now get to resume a rain-shortened game the Chicago Cubs thought they had won. MLB executive Joe Torre ruled on Tuesday nights game at Wrigley Field that was called after 4 1-2 innings. The Cubs were declared the winners by a 2-0 score. Now, it is instead a suspended game that will resume at 4:05 p.m. CDT Thursday with the Cubs batting in the bottom of the fifth. The playoff-contending Giants and Chicago have a regularly scheduled game set to begin three hours later. "I thought we had a strong case," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Im just thankful and grateful that they (MLB) were open minded. "They listened and they looked at it and I think its the fair thing to do." A short rainstorm caused a delay of more than 4 1-2 hours Tuesday after the grounds crew couldnt put the tarp down quickly. The umpires said the field was unplayable and called it at 1:16 a.m. MLB ruled that the tarp had not been properly put away after its previous use. Therefore, under provisions of Official Baseball Rule 4.12 (a) (3) there a "malfunction of a mechanical field device under control of the home club." Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer called it a "just" decision. "The last thing you want is a playoff team feeling bitter about the result here," Hoyer said. "And obviously it was caused by our organization. Its a good outcome." "Hopefully we win the game. We have a 2-0 lead and pick it up from there," he said. Hoyer said the Cubs had hoped all along to play a complete game on Tuesday night, and that the Wrigley Field grounds crew and the umpires were caught off-guard by a "weird weather pattern" and a lack of advance warning of the localized downpour. That resulted in the field "wetter than usual," according to Hoyer, who added there was no rain at his house, located 12 blocks away from Wrigley Field. Manager Rick Renteria agreed with Hoyer that the game should be completed. "I believe in karma, OK," Renteria said. "The league has made the decision that this is what should be done. Were going to abide by it and hopefully we go out there and finish it off." Bochy was grateful to the Cubs for their support. I really have to compliment the Cubs," he said. "They were all for this too. They wanted to do the right thing." Giants President Larry Baer said in a statement: "We appreciate Major League Baseballs careful review of our protest that will allow last nights game to be continued tomorrow." "We want to thank Commissioner Bud Selig, Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred, Executive Vice-President for Baseball Operations Joe Torre and the Chicago Cubs organization for their co-operation throughout this process," he said. The last time a team won a protest filed with MLB was June 16, 1986, when St. Louis played at Pittsburgh. There were two rain delays at Three Rivers Stadium, and the Pirates correctly contended those didnt meet the National Leagues 30-minute threshold for cancellation. MLB said in its statement that after watching video of the trouble at Wrigley Field and talking to Cubs representatives, "the Cubs inability to deploy the tarp appropriately was caused by the failure to properly wrap and spool the tarp after its last use." "As a result, the grounds keeping crew was unable to properly deploy the tarp after the rain worsened," MLB said. MLB said it talked with umpire crew chief Hunter Wendelstedt and that grounds crew worked hard to comply with his direction to get the field covered. CHICAGO -- Thee San Francisco Giants on Wednesday became the first team since 1986 to win a protest filed with Major League Baseball, and will now get to resume a rain-shortened game the Chicago Cubs thought they had won. Chris Flexen Jersey. MLB executive Joe Torre ruled on Tuesday nights game at Wrigley Field that was called after 4 1-2 innings. The Cubs were declared the winners by a 2-0 score. Now, it is instead a suspended game that will resume at 4:05 p.m. CDT Thursday with the Cubs batting in the bottom of the fifth. The playoff-contending Giants and Chicago have a regularly scheduled game set to begin three hours later. "I thought we had a strong case," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Im just thankful and grateful that they (MLB) were open minded. "They listened and they looked at it and I think its the fair thing to do." A short rainstorm caused a delay of more than 4 1-2 hours Tuesday after the grounds crew couldnt put the tarp down quickly. The umpires said the field was unplayable and called it at 1:16 a.m. MLB ruled that the tarp had not been properly put away after its previous use. Therefore, under provisions of Official Baseball Rule 4.12 (a) (3) there a "malfunction of a mechanical field device under control of the home club." Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer called it a "just" decision. "The last thing you want is a playoff team feeling bitter about the result here," Hoyer said. "And obviously it was caused by our organization. Its a good outcome." "Hopefully we win the game. We have a 2-0 lead and pick it up from there," he said. Hoyer said the Cubs had hoped all along to play a complete game on Tuesday night, and that the Wrigley Field grounds crew and the umpires were caught off-guard by a "weird weather pattern" and a lack of advance warning of the localized downpour. That resulted in the field "wetter than usual," according to Hoyer, who added there was no rain at his house, located 12 blocks away from Wrigley Field. Manager Rick Renteria agreed with Hoyer that the game should be completed. "I believe in karma, OK," Renteria said. "The league has made the decision that this is what should be done. Were going to abide by it and hopefully we go out there and finish it off." Bochy was grateful to the Cubs for their support. I really have to compliment the Cubs," he said. "They were all for this too. They wanted to do the right thing." Giants President Larry Baer said in a statement: "We appreciate Major League Baseballs careful review of our protest that will allow last nights game to be continued tomorrow." "We want to thank Commissioner Bud Selig, Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred, Executive Vice-President for Baseball Operations Joe Torre and the Chicago Cubs organization for their co-operation throughout this process," he said. The last time a team won a protest filed with MLB was June 16, 1986, when St. Louis played at Pittsburgh. There were two rain delays at Three Rivers Stadium, and the Pirates correctly contended those didnt meet the National Leagues 30-minute threshold for cancellation. MLB said in its statement that after watching video of the trouble at Wrigley Field and talking to Cubs representatives, "the Cubs inability to deploy the tarp appropriately was caused by the failure to properly wrap and spool the tarp after its last use." "As a result, the grounds keeping crew was unable to properly deploy the tarp after the rain worsened," MLB said. MLB said it talked with umpire crew chief Hunter Wendelstedt and that grounds crew worked hard to comply with his direction to get the field covered. ' ' '