Syracuse, N.Y. — In something of a rare afternoon in the Carrier Dome, nothing dramatic was announced before Syracuse met Notre Dame in a men’s basketball game.
Nobody was a Covid casualty. Nobody seemed injured or unable to play, aside from Bourama Sidibe, who continues to experience knee soreness.
All that was left, then, was to play the game.
And boy, was Notre Dame ready. The Irish blitzed out to a 46-32 first-half lead.
But we play two halves in basketball. And the Orange unleashed its press and overwhelmed the Irish in the second half. Final score: Syracuse 75, Notre Dame 67.
Here’s what happened:
The press helped Syracuse climb out of a deep, deep hole Saturday. The Irish can be difficult to press, in that they have so many capable shooters, it’s dangerous to leave them alone in the corners. But SU’s pressure worked at first by speeding up the Irish, who initially took quick shots (and missed), then just turned the ball over.
With 8:26 left in the game, a Quincy Guerrier 3-point shot chopped a once-robust ND lead to 60-59. The Irish at that point had committed six second-half turnovers against the Syracuse press. Mike Brey was telling his team to be patient, to slow down, but the Irish would not or could not. And while the Orange was turning the Irish over or just making them uncomfortable, SU began to make shots of its own.
Buddy Boeheim led the Orange in scoring Saturday and he did it both at the 3-point line and with the methodical back downs in the lane. He converted a 3-point play with 10:37 left in the game to trim the ND lead to 60-53, then sank a 3-pointer off a Quincy Guerrier pass to inch SU within 60-56.
This was as good an offensive performance as Boeheim has had this season. He finished with 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting. He was 6-of-10 from the 3-point line. He was hugely responsible for Syracuse winning that game.
Notre Dame, a very good shooting team, proved it in that first half. The team came into the Dome as the nation’s 34th-best shooting team from the 3-point line. The Irish are always a terrific shooting/offensive team and they picked apart the zone from various angles Saturday.
First, they found big man Juwan Durham with lobs at the rim. He scored 10 points in about six minutes. Notre Dame found the vulnerable seams in the middle of the zone and just did not miss those open opportunities. They also made 3-point shots — they drained half of the 14 shots they took from the 3-point line. Syracuse struggled to locate shooters — the corners and the wings were the most vulnerable. The Orange simply could not guard Notre Dame, which shot 18-of-33 in that first half.
But Syracuse’s press changed the complexion of Saturday’s game. Some of those same shots were there, but Notre Dame didn’t make many. Syracuse was a bit better at swarming to the shooters, but frankly, Notre Dame just … missed. The Irish scored a total of 21 points in the second half, shot 32 percent overall and 29 percent from the 3-point line.
On the offensive end, the Orange essentially attempted to beat the Irish off the dribble in the first half. That plan at times bogged down any offensive movement and made spectators of every Syracuse player who was not the guy with the ball in his hands. Notre Dame has struggled to guard teams this season. The Irish ranked 142 in Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency statistic going into the game. Syracuse, with all that stagnation, made itself an easy first-half cover.
But then came the second half. Syracuse still tried to beat ND off the dribble on various occasions and many times, that worked. Marek Dolezaj was particularly effective in there. But the Orange benefitted, too, from good 3-point shooting — primarily from Buddy Boeheim.
Syracuse was 6-of-12 from the 3-point line in the second half. The Orange also ended up with more paint points than the Irish, who led that category early in Saturday’s game.
With about 3 minutes left in the half, Jim Boeheim turned to Robert Braswell and John Bol Ajak along the back line. The Orange had been outrebounded by one of the league’s lesser lights in the rebounding category. Syracuse needed some sort of spark, some sort of life. Braswell drained a 3-point shot and Ajak was … well, he was fine in there for that brief period. He’s active, he talks a lot and he helped in that brief window.
Braswell played plenty of minutes in the second half and gave the Orange a lift with his rebounding and his defense. His stat line won’t show it, but he was vital to SU in the second half.
This and that: Both Mike Brey and Jim Boeheim draped commemorative towels over their shoulders to honor John Thompson; the effort was coordinated by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. … The Syracuse bench in the second half was as spirited as I’ve seen it in the Dome this season. Guys were up and screaming encouragement. … Syracuse did most of its second-half damage with Joe Girard and Alan Griffin on the bench. … It might get lost in the press/Buddy Boeheim post-game shuffle, but Marek Dolezaj put up some of his best offensive numbers of the season. Dolezaj finished with 16 points and was crafty in the lane and dependably reliable at the free-throw line against the Irish. … Syracuse won the rebounding battle 36-31. Quincy Guerrier had 14 gigantic boards.
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