SU gets back to .500 on the season
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team trailed by as many as 17 on Saturday, but completed the comeback against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to win 77-69. Syracuse improved to 8-3 at home.
JJ Starling led the way for Syracuse (9-9, 3-4) as he finished with 21 points and 4 rebounds. Eddie Lampkin had his fourth straight double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Kyle Cuffe chipped in with 13 points. Notre Dame (8-10, 2-5) was led by Marcus Burton who scored 28 points.
Syracuse was once again without freshman Donnie Freeman who missed his fourth straight game with a lower right leg injury. Adrian Autry went with the same starting five of Starling, Elijah Moore, Lucas Taylor, Jyare Davis and Lampkin.
Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead, forcing Autry to call timeout just two minutes and 36 seconds into the game. Syracuse fans — standing and clapping — had early jeers for the home team. Notre Dame went up 11-0 on a Matt Allocco mid-range jumpshot as Syracuse continued to dig itself into a hole with lackluster defense. A Davis three got Syracuse on the board as an already fatigued dome crowd, finally able to sit down, let out a collective cheer perhaps mixed with some relief. The Irish led 11-3 at the first media timeout.
Kyle Cuffe checked in first off the bench for Syracuse alongside Chris Bell, who would knock down his first three-point attempt. Petar Majstorovic then entered the game. The Irish — mimicking Louisville’s defensive approach from earlier this week — hard hedged and doubled up on Starling on every ball screen. The Irish made it difficult for Syracuse’s top gun on offense and led 25-8 just over nine minutes in as the Marcus Burton show took hold. The diminutive Irish star would nail back-to-back threes before the second media timeout. Jaquan Carlos then checked in to round out the first half rotation.
Trying to make life easier on Starling with Carlos in to man the point, Syracuse went to the double first set up top and Starling responded by hitting a three — his first of the game. Then Carlos knocked down a deep shot to trim the deficit to 27-14. But on the other end, Burton went to work on Carlos and scored three straight buckets to put Syracuse back into a hole at 31-14. Burton worked effortlessly for the shots he wanted and erupted for 22 first half points.
Syracuse started to work the ball inside to Lampkin, but with limited success. Braeden Shrewberry got loose for a pair of jumpers for the Irish and Starling hit on a baseline jumper. Searching for answers, Autry mixed up his lineup late in the first half as Starling, Davis and Taylor checked out while Moore, Cuffe and Majstorovic checked back in. Davis later checked back in for Lampkin and Starling also finished the half.
Syracuse showed some semblance of fight as Cuffe hustled for an offensive rebound and was immediately rewarded for his effort the recipient of an open three. He knocked it down and then Moore followed it up with his first three in seven games. Moore completed a four point play to get Syracuse within single digits. Shrewsberry would knock down a pair of free throws before the half for ten points. Then Moore hit on a mid-range shot. Syracuse went into the intermission trailing 42-33. All nine Syracuse players in rotation scored in the first, but nobody had more than six (Moore).
Syracuse had 13 points off the bench to Notre Dame’s zero but the Irish had an 11-0 points off turnovers edge and an 18-6 points in the paint advantage.
Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
Out of the break Syracuse immediately made the game competitive. The Orange went into Davis, who scored right away to cut the lead to seven. Taylor, working hard defensively on Burton, forced him into a miss at the rim. A rebound and strong outlet pass by Lampkin led to a transition layup by Moore. Then, Starling knocked down his second three of the game to cut it to two. He looked to the crowd and let his tongue wag as he galloped back down floor.
Operating in the low post facing a double team, Lampkin threaded a behind the back pass to a cutting Davis for two and a foul. But free throws and an Allocco jumper put Notre Dame back up eight. Autry inserted Cuffe, Carlos, Bell and Majstorovic into the game with 12:11 to go.
The game was played within two to three possessions for the middle stretch of the second half when Kebba Njie scored on a bucket but was called for some extracurricular activity. He’d step into Majstorovic’s space with an aggressive elbow and was assessed a flagrant one foul. Majstorovic split a pair at the line.
That’s when Lampkin announced his presence and asserted himself to tilt the game in Syracuse’s favor. He’d first collect an offensive rebound and score on a putback, then follow it up with a dunk off a cutting feed from Majstorovic.
Starling was willing to synergize with Lampkin’s spirited play. Syracuse’s leading scorer would convert on a three point play to make the score 60-57. After an Irish score, Starling would then connect on his third three of the night. Then he was fouled by Burton on a three point attempt — he calmly knocked down all three to tie the game at 63. Next, Lampkin forced a travel on Notre Dame on one end and finish off an and one on the next play — roaring to the crowd on both occasions — to give Syracuse its first and final lead of the game 67-65.
After, Starling probed the righthand lane and drove underneath the basket, finishing with a floater on the opposite left hand side to make give Syracuse a 69-65 lead. On the next Syracuse possession — up four with the intent to shorten the game — the Orange would miss and collect an offensive rebound four times. Lampkin was fouled on a putback attempt and would miss both, keeping the lead at just four with 67 seconds left.
Allocco scored out of the timeout to cut the lead to two. Then Tae Davis forced Starling into a miss on a heavily contested jumpshot. Then Davis was whistled for an illegal screen with 16.4 seconds left, giving the ball back tot he Orange. Starling was fouled and split a pair, then Burton would score at the rim. Up by one with 7.8 seconds left, Cuffe was fouled and sent to the line where he’d make both to give SU a three point lead. Burton missed on a last three point attempt and after he did, Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry was vehemetly upset with the officials near midcourt. He was called for two technical fouls and ejected from the game.
It was all academic when Cuffe knocked down four straight technical free throws. Then Davis split a pair and Syracuse walked out with the 77-69 win to move back to .500 on the season.
Final Stats
Syracuse shot 24-58 from the floor 41.4% and 8-24 from three (33.3%) while Notre Dame shot 24-57 from the floor (42.1%) and 5-14 from deep (35.7%). Syracuse was 21-34 from the free throw line (61.8%). Notre Dame was 16-18 (88.9%)
Notre Dame won the rebounding battle 43-34. Syracuse had 14 assists and 9 turnovers whereas Notre Dame had 3 assists and 13 turnovers.
Syracuse bench outscored Notre Dame’s 24-0.
Next up
Syracuse hits the road to take on Clemson this Tuesday. That game tips at 7 p.m. EST from LittleJohn Coliseum and airs on the ACC Network.