NOTRE DAME, Ind. - In winning its first 21 games the No. 1 ranked Syracuse Orange beat teams with hustle and good shooting, as the Orange came into tonight's game ranked 22nd nationally in field goal percentage. In Notre Dame's upset win over the No. 1-ranked Orange the Irish beat Syracuse at its own game as Notre Dame fought and hustled its way to a 67-58 victory in Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
The opening minute of the first half was indicative of how the game would go. Syracuse won the tip but point guard Scoop Jardine quickly missed a short layup, one of several easy misses for the Orange during the game.
Notre Dame answered with back-to-back triples from freshman Pat Connaughton and Eric Atkins as the Irish jumped to a quick 6-0 lead. Connaughton hit another triple from the right corner off of a great ball rotation as Notre Dame pushed its lead to 11-2.
Syracuse answered with a quick run to cut the lead to 13-8 but Notre Dame pushed back as sophomore Alex Dragicevich scored five straight points to help push the Irish lead to 19-8. The two teams would trade baskets over the next three minutes before Notre Dame went on another run.
After the furious start Notre Dame began to slow the game down, milking the shot clock and limiting Syracuse’s possessions. With Syracuse struggling from the field it was unable to cut into the Notre Dame lead during the first half.
Senior Scott Martin hit a short jumper from the right baseline and sophomore Jerian Grant answered with his first triple of the game as the Irish jumped out to a 28-14 lead. Dragicevich hit another triple to push Notre Dame’s lead to 18 at 35-17.
Syracuse sophomore guard Dion Waiters hit back-to-back triples within the last minute of the half to cut the Irish lead to 35-23, putting the Orange within striking distance as the two teams headed into the break.
The Irish went over five minutes late in the first half and turned the ball over seven times during the first half, allowing Syracuse to hang around as the teams headed into the intermission.
Notre Dame out-shot and out-hustled Syracuse during the opening 20 minutes as it built its early lead. The Orange were ice cold from the field early, making just 8-of-28 shots in the first half. Notre Dame came into the game struggling from the field but hit 12-of-22 during the first half, including 6-of-10 from behind the arc.
Syracuse continued to struggle from the field in the second half but it used a stifling defense to shut down the Irish offense and claw back into the game.
Orange senior Kris Joseph and junior Brandon Triche gave Syracuse five early points out of the break but Notre Dame answered back behind the strong inside play of junior forward Jack Cooley. Cooley scored five points early in the half and Martin hit two triples to put the Irish lead to 48-31.
Martin came into the game shooting just 2-of-25 from behind the arc in Big East play but made both attempts in tonight’s upset win. The ability of Martin and the other Irish shooters to hit big shots in key situations fueled the Notre Dame win.
Grant made a layup off of an Atkins drive and dish to push the Notre Dame lead to 50-33.
Syracuse turned up the defensive pressure at that point and pressed Notre Dame all over the court for remainder of the game. The suffocating defense served to force the Irish into an uncharacteristically high 17 turnovers. Notre Dame also went into a cold spell of its own from the field against the Orange pressure.
Notre Dame went over seven minutes without a field goal as the Orange got back into the game, cutting the lead to 50-42 with 5:20 left in the game. Cooley answered the Orange charge with an emphatic baseline dunk to extend the Irish lead back to ten. He followed that up with two free throws to push the lead to 54-42.
Syracuse made another short run but again the Irish found a way to answer, this time it was Grant at the free throw line. The sophomore made all six of his free throws in the final three minutes to stave off the furious Syracuse comeback attempt.
Grant made four clutch free throws in the game's final minute to seal the upset for the Irish.
The win over No. 1 Syracuse is Notre Dame’s eighth win over a No. 1-ranked team and its first since a 60-58 victory over No. 1 North Carolina back in February of 1987. Notre Dame is now 7-3 at home against No. 1-ranked teams. The win also ends Syracuse’s three-game win streak over the Irish, giving Notre Dame its first win over Syracuse since a 94-87 home victory on Feb. 24 of 2008.
Cooley led the Irish with 17 points and 10 rebounds. His strong interior play helped neutralize the length Syracuse possessed on the interior. He out-worked the Syracuse bigs, picking up a number of loose balls and making big plays every time Syracuse began to make a run.
Cooley took advantage of the fact Syracuse was without 7-foot-0 starting center Fab Melo, who was suspended for the game.
Martin shot 5-of-8 from the field and scored 13 points while grabbing six boards in the win. Grant chipped in 11 points and a team high six assists.
Junior forward James Southerland led the cold-shooting Orange with 15 points. Senior Kris Joseph chipped in 12 points and Dion Waiters scored 11 for the Orange, who shot just 34-percent from the field and made just 7-of-23 from behind the arc.
With the loss the Orange are now 20-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big East. They travel to Cincinnati for a Monday contest against the Bearcats.
Notre Dame improves to 12-8 overall and 4-3 in the Big East. The Irish travel to Seton Hall on Wednesday.
