Going into Saturday’s game at the Carrier Dome, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey was wondering which of Syracuse’s many offensive options his team would be able to take away.
The answer, as it turned out, was none.
Six Orange players scored in double figures, overwhelming the Fighting Irish in a 93-74 rout. Notre Dame now falls to 3-3 in Big East play, and life doesn’t get any easier with Connecticut coming to the Joyce Center a week from now.
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Harangody posted game highs of 25 points and 16 rebounds against the Orange. (AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)
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“It’s a very talented offensive basketball team,” Brey said of Syracuse, “and we had a hard time getting enough stops.”
The Irish were in danger of being run off the floor in the middle of the first half, as Syracuse threw together a 16-2 surge in a short 4:20 span to turn a two-point deficit into a 26-14 advantage. The Orange executed the up-tempo game with deadly efficiency, enjoying a 17-0 edge in fast-break points over the first 12 minutes of the contest (and 41-11 for the game).
Notre Dame was able to stem the tide somewhat for the remainder of the half, however, meticulously cutting away at Syracuse’s cushion. Spurts of seven and five points trimmed the Orange lead to 35-29, and the Irish were able to stagger into the locker room trailing by just seven, 42-35, despite being outrun, outhustled and outshot for much of the opening frame.
Syracuse tallied the first two buckets of the second half to regain its double-digit cushion, and a trey from the left corner by Paul Harris gave the host club its biggest lead, 59-42, with 13:15 remaining. Notre Dame fought back again, however, with an 8-0 burst, as Kyle McAlarney sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a Ryan Ayers layup to make it 61-53, forcing an Orange timeout at the 10:50 mark.
The back-and-forth continued, as Syracuse scored six points in 46 seconds to stretch the lead back to 14, but Notre Dame responded and cut back to within nine, 71-62, on a Luke Harangody 3-pointer with 7:40 to go. The Irish kept coming, making it 74-69 on another McAlarney three at six minutes, but some ill-advised shots on the next two possessions prevented the visitors from getting closer.
Notre Dame was still within six, 78-72, at the final media break, but the Orange got back-to-back baskets from Eric Devendorf and Jonny Flynn, and the Irish followed those two possessions with turnovers to effectively throw away any remaining hope of a comeback.
“We made a great run at them,” Brey stated, “and I was hoping we could get two stops in a row when we got it to five...(But) what do you do? You’re afraid to come down off those shooters and help. It takes its toll.”
Harangody finished with game highs of 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Irish, but he was a subpar 9 of 28 from the field, emblematic of Notre Dame’s 36-percent shooting on the day. McAlarney added 24 points on 7-of-14 three-point shooting, but Ayers (11 points) was the only other Irish player in double digits.
Syracuse, meanwhile, got production from everywhere. Arinze Onuaku led the way with 19 points, while Flynn added 17 points and a game-high nine assists. The Orange also got 16 points from Devendorf, 15 from Harris, 14 from Rick Jackson and 10 from Andy Rautins.
“What do you really take away?” Brey shrugged afterward.
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