SYRACUSE, NY – Syracuse took a stunning 75-67 victory in the back of Notre Dame at the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon.
Syracuse trailed 46-32 at halftime, trailing by 20 points early in the second half and still trailing 58-41, with just over 13 minutes left.
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But Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim went to press his full press and added Kadary Richmond and Robert Braswell to the team.
It looks like the moves are starting the Orange.
Buddy Boeheim and Quincy Guerrier hit three consecutive goals as SU narrowed the lead to 60-59 with 8:26 left. Boeheim drained three more to give Syracuse its first lead in the game at 62-60.
Marek Dolezaj’s two free throws gave Syracuse a 64-60 lead at the end of a 23-2 run.
Notre Dame passed more than five minutes without scoring a basket during Syracuse’s rally.
Boeheim ended the match with a career high of 29 points on six three-pointers. His previous best was 26 points, which he recorded last season against Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.
Dolezaj contributed 18 points and four assists.
Syracuse’s record improved to 13-6 overall and 7-5 in the ACC.
The victory was important for Syracuse in that it was a match that the Orange could ill afford to lose.
Notre Dame fell to 9-11 and 6-8 in the conference. Notre Dame entered 64th place on the NCAA’s NET rankings, meaning it was a Quad 2 match for Syracuse.
In the first half, Notre Dame’s effective foul was too much for Syracuse’s 2-3 zone.
After leading by as many as 19 points, the Irish took a 46-32 lead until they made 18 of 33 (54 percent) field goal attempts in the first half. Notre Dame linked on seven out of 14 shots from the three-point series.
Notre Dame started watching Juwan Durham with the match. On a series of lob passes, Durham scored 10 of the Irish’s first 17 points. After Durham forced Syracuse to think about the interior, Notre Dame began to take advantage of its multiple shooting options on the outside. Trey Wertz, Cormac Ryan and Prentiss Hubb all scored at least two tries in the first half.
On the other side of the court, Syracuse’s offense looked like a series of one-on-one moves. There was little movement. Syracuse’s top two scorers, Alan Griffin and Quincy Guerrier, combined to score just seven points on 2-for-10 field goal shooting.
While Notre Dame had 15 shots on his 18 field goals, Syracuse had just six shots on his 13 shots in the half.
But Syracuse adjusted half. In the second half, Notre Dame managed to score just 21 points.
Syracuse will play Duke on Monday in the first of two live road matches that will fall in Quadrant 1. The Orange is at Georgia Tech next Saturday.
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