By Tom Coyne
The Associated Press

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Chris Thomas took his phone off the hook after a disappointing loss to No. 6 Pittsburgh. The Notre Dame sophomore guard didn't want anything diverting his focus as he prepared to play Seton Hall.

"I had to get into my rhythm again. I did that this week," said Thomas, who scored 22 points in leading the fifth-ranked Irish to a 74-64 victory over Seton Hall on Sunday.

He let his bad play and some calls that went against the Irish (13-2, 1-1 Big East) bother him in a 17-point loss to Pitt - Notre Dame's worst loss in three seasons under coach Mike Brey. On Sunday against the Pirates (5-7, 0-3), Thomas was determined not let anything bother him.

"Sometimes I get caught up in the officiating and get my head down," Thomas said. "Today I smiled at the refs and said, 'Good call."'

Of course it was easy for Thomas to take that attitude with the Irish being called for 10 fouls while Seton Hall was called for 24. The Irish were 22-for-29 from the line, while the Pirates shot 8-for-9. Seton Hall coach Louis Orr wasn't able to smile after seeing those statistics.

"It's discouraging for our guys to go in, night in and night out, with the officiating and have to deal with what they're dealing with every game," Orr said.

"Tonight, they shoot 29 free throws, we shoot nine. It's a joke. Does it take 20 wins or being a ranked team to get the same calls? It's just frustrating. I'm not saying that's why we lost the game, but it's discouraging to our guys."

Andre Barrett, who led the Pirates with 22 points, said the Pirates failed to take advantage, even after realizing the officials were calling a tight game.

"We should have went to the basket a little bit more. We settled for too many jump shots," he said.

Thomas made up for a 2-for-15 shooting performance against Pitt. He was more patient against Seton Hall and, helped by his drives to the basket, shot 7-for-16 from the field and 6-for-8 from the line.

Thomas said he was determined to play more confident.

"If my team sees that I have any lack of trust or confidence in myself then that is going to make them wonder where my head is," he said. "Today I wanted to make sure they knew that I was 100 percent with them."

Matt Carroll had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Irish, and Torin Francis added 10 points and seven rebounds. Kelly Whitney and John Allen each had 12 points for Seton Hall, and J.R. Morris added 11. Whitney also had 14 rebounds.

The Pirates, who trailed by 10 at halftime, cut Notre Dame's lead to 48-45 when Barrett capped a 9-0 run with a layup with 14:48 left. Carroll countered with a 10-foot jumper, sparking a 9-2 run by the Irish. The Pirates never got closer than six again.

The Irish used a 14-4 run late in the first half en route to a 46-36 halftime lead. Carroll started the spurt, faking two defenders and hitting an 8-footer to give Notre Dame a 30-29 lead.

Francis and Thomas scored five points each, and Carroll capped the drive by hitting two free throws to give the Irish a 42-31 lead. The Pirates had three turnovers during the run, including a shot clock violation.

"We had a little spurt, then it was kind of grind the rest of the way," Brey said. "I thought we did what we needed to do to win the game."