It wasn’t pretty but Syracuse completes a 24-point turnaround to steal one in the Dome.
It was a tale of two halves for the Syracuse Orange (9-9, 3-4), who stormed back from a 17-point first half deficit to end up beating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-10, 2-5) 77-69 at home. That’s the largest comeback of the year for the team this season.
Syracuse got into an early hole and would not take a lead until there was under four minutes left, but a combination of better energy defensively and clutch play on offense from the Orange’s end-of-game lineup led to an impressive come from behind victory.
An interesting, rollercoaster-like game means there is plenty to unpack from this one… both good and bad.
As per usual, here are your takeaways from the Orange’s comeback win over the Fighting Irish:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde defense
Syracuse fell behind right from the jump.
Notre Dame surged out to an 11-0 start. The Orange’s first six possessions of the game resulted in one turnover and an 0/5 mark from the field. No one could stop Markus Burton, who dropped a career-high 22 points in the first half on 10/16 (62.5%) shooting. The Orange fell behind as much as 17 points early (25-8) and late in the first half (38-21 with five minutes until halftime).
So… what changed?
Renewed energy on the defensive end proved to be one deciding factor.
Burton scored just six points on 2/10 shooting in the second half. Syracuse allowed the Fighting Irish to get just 27 points and eight total field goal makes during the final 20 minutes of game time. The overall effort was astronomically better.
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The big difference I noticed on both sides was on pick and roll coverages. Syracuse in the first half sagged off way too much and let Burton have his way. Notre Dame on defense would trap at the top, mainly forcing Starling to pass into traffic or get the ball in someone else’s hand.
In the second half, key adjustments were made. The Orange forced everyone else on the Notre Dame side not named Burton or Braeden Shrewsberry (14 points, 4/7 shooting) to put the ball on the floor and make a play. Syracuse played further up on screens and gave a taste of Notre Dame’s own medicine.
Offensively, Syracuse largely abandoned the screen game and either dumped the ball inside, forced turnovers which led to more transition/semi-transition opportunities and drove downhill after not doing that pretty much at all in the first half.
Combined, those factors played a substantial role in Syracuse’s comeback.
Starling-Lampkin combo take command, but…
The final box score wasn’t the prettiest, but particularly in that second half, it was clear the mentality was to put the game in J.J. Starling’s and Eddie Lampkin’s hands.
Each delivered down the end. Starling finished with a team-high 21 points despite only shooting 7/20 (35%) from the floor. Lampkin secured his seventh double-double of the game with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.
Watching the game live, the duo took command and provided the spark especially on offense.
That being said, we again point to other contributors who did just enough — nine total players for the Orange scored at least one basket. Jyare Davis and Elijah Moore really didn’t close the game, but each finished with eight points.
An interesting closing lineup
This is probably the lineup most fans did not have on their bingo card for the 2024-25 Syracuse basketball season. Coach Adrian Autry made the decision to close (until the very last few possessions) with Jaquan Carlos, Kyle Cuffe Jr., Starling, Petar Majstorovic and Lampkin.
Interesting combo… and yet it worked on multiple fronts.
The trio of guards gave the Orange more ballhandling and helped to cut back on those turnovers that plagued the team in the first half. Considering Syracuse’s defensive struggles, I really thought it was smart to move Cuffe to guarding Burton… but extremely gutsy to bring Carlos in and have him play off-ball on Shrewsberry. It helped with that whole “make anyone on Notre Dame outside Burton and Shrewsberry go make a play” strategy.
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Down in the paint, when the Fighting Irish were forced to play away from their guards, having two bigger players in Majstorovic and Lampkin gave Syracuse way more size and physicality.
Is this a lineup Syracuse can go to against other ACC opponents? Unlikely, but in certain spots, maybe it can reemerge as an option.
It ain’t over until it’s over
Considering how terrible the start to the game was, this easily could’ve been way worse of a result by the final buzzer.
A win is a win no matter how you slice. Credit is well-deserved to the players who still competed despite the nearly 20-point deficit. Ditto to Autry and the staff for making adjustments, even if the beginning of the game was an absolute train wreck. Then again, this had potential to play out like the Louisville game and fortunately it didn’t.
There are many frustrations and bigger-picture concerns plenty of folks in Orange Nation will obviously have going forward with the program, but a win like this at least brings some relief this team will hopefully continue to fight the rest of the way.
Now it’s your turn: what are your takeaways from the Orange’s comeback win over Notre Dame?