Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse basketball team takes on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 4 p.m., Saturday in the JMA Wireless Dome.
The game will air on ACC Network.
See in-game team and individual stats here.
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After surrendering an 11-0 start to start the game and trailing by as much as 17 points, Syracuse managed to fight back and defeat Notre Dame in a 77-69 victory on Saturday evening at the JMA Wireless Dome.
An improved defensive effort along with a more consistent offensive attack helped Syracuse to its largest comeback victory of the season.
JJ Starling led the way for the Orange with 21 points, including 15 of them in the second half.
Eddie Lampkin finished the game with his fourth consecutive double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Kyle Cuffe Jr. also had 13 points to lead all bench scorers for Syracuse.
The first half was by and large dominated by the Fighting Irish. It scored the first 11 points of the contest before Syracuse hit their first shot. At points throughout the first half it looked as if the Irish would run away with the W.
Much of that dominance was because of Markus Burton, who had 22 points by halftime. He was getting to the paint seemingly at will and was able to step back for three when needed as well.
Burton would finish the game with 28 points, and that defensive adjustment to hold him to only six in the second half was a major part of the come-from-behind victory.
The Orange defense started to show signs of life toward the end of the first half. The squad held the Irish without a field goal for the final five minutes of play. Syracuse took advantage of that.
With the help of the bench unit, particularly Elijah Moore, who led all SU scorers at the half with six points, Syracuse got the deficit within single-digits, trailing 42-33.
A run by the Orange to start the second half brought it within two, as the Irish was still unable to score a field goal.
Notre Dame eventually began to find their way offensively. But Syracuse had a big run in it, and it was powered by Starling. The guard went on a solo 10-0 run and helped the Orange take a late lead.
Syracuse would remain in the drivers seat for the remainder of the contest and come away with arguably its gutsiest win of the season.
Starling gets deep in the paint and hits the reverse layup.
Starling hits one out of two to bring the Syracuse lead to three.
Cuffe hits a pair at the stripe. Due to a late double technical on Notre Dame, Cuffe got four consecutive free throws and made them all.
Davis knocks down a free throw with less than a second left.
3:53 remaining: Syracuse 67, Notre Dame 65
Majstorovic hits one out of two from the line because of a flagrant foul the play before.
Lampkin snaps a near four-minute drought without a field goal for Syracuse with the layup.
Next time down, Lampkin scores again, this time with the two-hand slam.
Starling turns the corner, drives hard to the cup, and floats the ball of the glass for the and-one finish. He missed the free-throw, though.Starling’s heating up. He makes the triple and he’s now up to 13 points on the evening.
Starling goes three for three at the line to tie the game, 63-63. A 10-0 Starling run as he finishes with the tough scoop layup with the right hand on the left side.
Lampkin grabs his own miss and finishes with the layup, plus the foul.
8:23 remaining: Notre Dame 56, Syracuse 50
Cuffe hits a pair of free throws.
On another trip to the line, Cuffe makes another pair of free throws.
11:38 remaining: Notre Dame 52, Syracuse 46
Lampkin throws a slick no-look behind-the-back pass to Davis who makes the shot at the rim while getting fouled.
Starling finds a running Lampkin who initially looks like he gets blocked at the rim, but it was called a goaltending for two.
15:20 remaining: Notre Dame 44, Syracuse 42Davis hits the short jump hook inside.
Lampkin finds Moore with the touchdown pass who finishes with the layup on the break.
Starling hits the triple to bring SU within two.
Davis with the post-to-post pass to Lampkin who finishes at the rim.
After being down double-digits within the first four minutes of the game, the Orange have found a way to stay within striking distance going into halftime.
Syracuse was able to hold Notre Dame to without a field goal for the final five minutes of the half.
And on the other side of the ball, Eddie Lampkin and members of the bench unit hit timely shots to head into the half down nine.
Elijah Moore leads Syracuse with six points off the bench. JJ Starling is right behind him with five.
But let’s be clear, Markus Burton of the Fighting Irish got whatever he wanted against the Orange defense. He had 22 points in the first half while shooting better than 60% from both the field and from deep.
While the Orange managed to get stops late in the half, it will need to figure out a plan to contain Burton’s penetration game and 3-point shot-making if it wants to make a comeback.
The Fighting Irish shot over 50% from the field as a team in the first half, so defensively Syracuse should hope to replicate the final five minutes of the half throughout the second half.
Lampkin knocks down both free throws after getting fouled prior to the timeout.
Kyle Cuffe finds an open spot on the perimeter and knocks down the wide-open three off the SU offensive rebound.
Elijah Moore hits the three while getting fouled. The field goal was his first in his last seven games. He makes the free throw.
Moore gets to the mid-range and rises up to knock down the pull-up jumper.
3:54 remaining: Notre Dame 38, Syracuse 22Taylor completes the three-point play with the foul shot out of the timeout.
Carlos gets to his spot and rises up for the mid-range jumper.
Starling hits the baseline pull-up off the Lampkin feed.
Lampkin makes one out of two from the charity stripe.
7:57 remaining: Notre Dame 31, Syracuse 16Starling gets his first bucket of the game on a step-back, pull-up three. A good sign as he’s missed his first couple shots to start.
Jaquan Carlos catches in rhythm and knocks down the corner three ball.
Lucas Taylor drives hard and draws the foul while making the layup. Goes to the line for one more after the timeout.
10:49 remaining: Notre Dame 25, Syracuse 8Eddie Lampkin finds Chris Bell wide open on the wing for the triple.
Petar Majstorovic hits the short floater in the lane for two.
Notre Dame has been getting whatever they want offensively so far, particularly Markus Burton, who’s already up to 14 points.
15:14 remaining: Notre Dame 11, Syracuse 3Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry forced to call a timeout after Notre Dame went on a 9-0 run off the opening tip.Jyare Davis ends the Orange’s four minute scoring drought with a three, assisted on by Elijah Moore. Also ends an 11-0 start to the game by the Irish.
Syracuse (8-9, 2-4 ACC) is looking to get a bounce back win as it hosts Notre Dame (8-9, 2-4 ACC).
This will be the second matchup between these two squads this season. The first game saw Notre Dame win 69-64 in South Bend on Dec. 7. Syracuse was without J.J. Starling in that matchup, and Notre Dame was without its star guard, Markus Burton.
This time, the Orange will be without freshman forward Donnie Freeman, who is sidelined for a fourth game with a lower-right leg injury. Freeman’s status has been termed day-to-day by coach Adrian Autry. He hasn’t played since Jan. 4.
Syracuse is coming off an 85-61 blowout loss against Louisville at home on Tuesday night. The Orange started off strong, but the Cardinals’ offensive onslaught from beyond the arc proved to be too much.
Chris Bell led the way with 18 points off the bench. Eddie Lampkin also contributed his third straight double-double in the loss.
For Notre Dame, it is coming off a 78-60 home win against Boston College. The Irish’s two leading scorers on the season, Tae Davis and Burton, scored 26 and 20, respectively, in the win.
One thing to keep an eye on: How Does Starling perform today?
Starling arguably had his worst game of the season last time out against Louisville. He finished the game with only four points on 1-7 shooting and committed six turnovers.
Most people would chalk it up to an off-night considering his aptitude for scoring. But there’s a chance Notre Dame saw something in Louisville’s defensive scheme that can be imitated. Most times Starling would use a screen, the defenders’ looked to trap and get the ball out of his hand.
If Notre Dame forces other players to beat it besides Starling, it may prove to be a formula that other teams can take note of. A good performance by Starling though could mitigate that all together.
The Orange holds a firm 10-game lead in the all-time series against the Fighting Irish with a 34-24 record. In the dome, SU is 14-8 and has won the last three, including last season’s 88-85 victory on Jim Boeheim Day.
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