Orange Defeat #25 Irish, 81-66

Thursday, January 28

Syracuse, N.Y.

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

(14-8) (4-5)

Notre Dame

(14-6) (5-3)

Notre Dame

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

1/28/2016 9:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Syracuse (14-8, 4-5) used a 23-1, first-half run and came up big in a 81-66 victory over # 25/rv Notre Dame (14-6, 5-3) on Thursday night in the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse used balanced scoring to its advantage, as four Orange finished the evening in double digits. Grad student Trevor Cooney led the offensive attack with 22 points, while grad student Michael Gbinije and freshmen Malachi Richardson and Tyler Lydon tallied 15 points apiece.

Lydon led the effort under the boards, finishing with 10 rebounds while registering his third double-double of the season. Junior Tyler Roberson added nine rebounds and nine points to the mix.

After the Irish jumped out to a 5-0 start, the Orange came storming back on 14-0 run in the first seven minutes of the contest The Orange held Notre Dame scoreless for nearly six minutes in that span. Layups by Gbinije and Roberson in consecutive possessions extended the lead to 18-6 with just under 12 minutes left to play in the half.

The Orange put together a dominating 23-1 run thanks to an offensive surge led by Cooney and Roberson, who racked up seven points each in the span. A three from Cooney extended the Syracuse lead to 18 with 9:34 left in the half, 26-8.

The Irish slowly began to find its way back into the game, cutting the Orange lead down to 12 with 2:13 left in the half. That's as close as the Irish would get, however, as Lydon scored a quick eight points off of a layup and two 3-point buckets to extend the Orange lead to 20 with eight seconds left. A last-second shot from Notre Dame's Steve Vasturia made the score 44-27 heading into halftime.

The Orange's 17-point lead marked the second-highest halftime lead in ACC play thus far in the season. Cooney led the first half effort with 15 points, while Roberson led the boards with seven rebounds.

The Irish started off on a 5-0 run to begin the latter half, but the Orange proceeded to outscore Notre Dame 10-4 to build an 18-point lead in the opening five minutes of the half. Syracuse didn't stop, continuing on a 19-8 run while creating a 23-point lead off of a dunk by DaJuan Coleman at the 11:05 mark, 63-40.

A 3-pointer by Richardson at the 8:22 mark put the Orange at a 24-point advantage, its largest of the contest, 70-46. The Orange continued to cruise from there on out, maintaining a double-digit lead into the final minutes of the game. A pair of free throws from Cooney sealed an 81-66 victory for Syracuse.

Syracuse takes on Georgia Tech on Saturday, January 30 in a 12 p.m. tip-off at the Carrier Dome.