88 - 85 They had us in the second half, not gonna lie... but SU hangs on and gives their former coach a (belated) proper sendoff.
Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images
In front of the largest crowd in college basketball this season, the Syracuse Orange played like one of Jim Boeheim’s classic teams: they came out firing, played lockdown defense, and stretched the court... at least for the first half. Then it became a desperate attempt to hold on to a rapidly dwindling lead.
With 23 seconds left in the game, the ball ended up in the hands of Notre Dame’s Braeden Shrewsberry, who had made six three-pointers in the second half. Mercifully, he did not sink a seventh, and the Orange held on for an 88-85 win over the Irish. SU moves to 18-10 and 9-8 in the ACC; Notre Dame drops to 10-16, 5-11.
All five Orange starters finished with double-figures in the victory. Judah Mintz led the team with 21 points, Chris Bell was second with 18, Maliq Brown and J.J. Starling both had 14, and Justin Taylor had his best game in a while with 10. Brown also played a huge role with seven boards and five assists.
Mintz took the game’s first shot, a rim roller that was rebounded by ND’s Kebba Njie. The Irish then put up a quick five points before Judah answered with a made jumper in the paint.
A Chris Bell triple evened things up, then Judah grabbed a steal and tossed it to J.J. Starling, who finished the fast break chance with a layup for the first lead of the afternoon. After Notre Dame tied it on the ensuing possession, Bell fought through contact for an off-the-glass bucket.
That gave SU the lead for good, as after the first media timeout, the Orange rolled to a 17-2 run to put some serious space between them and the Irish.
Later in the first half, another 17-2 run put ‘Cuse up 44-16, and they stretched the lead to as much as 29 before the Irish scored nine straight to end the half. All seemed fine as the videos of friends and alumni congratulating Jim Boeheim poured in at halftime... but little did the crowd know the script would be flipped out of the locker room.
The Orange defense fell victim to the deep ball, as the Irish drilled 10 of 15 three-point attempts in the half. Their own offense suddenly went quiet, as after shooting over 60% from the field in the first 20, they were suddenly only making around 35% during the next 10.
With the lead down to four, Chris Bell drained his fourth three of the afternoon, then Coach Red Autry called his second-to-last timeout. Then Maliq Brown got a crucial steal and converted both shots at the line after being fouled. That gave SU just enough breathing room to get a final stop inside the final minute.
SU returns to the Dome for Senior Day Tuesday at 7 against Virginia Tech. Walk-on Chaz Owens is the only true senior on this year’s team, but it’s possible that others elect to leave as well.
