Orange Earn Sweep Of Notre Dame In 78-73 Thriller

Saturday, January 14

Syracuse, N.Y.

7 PM

Syracuse University

12-6,5-2ACC

Notre Dame

9-9,1-6ACC

Notre Dame

Syracuse

Orange Earn Sweep Of Notre Dame In 78-73 Thriller

1/14/2023 9:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Freshman forward Chris Bell had a career-high 17 points and Syracuse (12-6, 5-2) rallied from a 12-point, second-half deficit to defeat Notre Dame (9-9, 1-6), 78-73, on Saturday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Senior center Jesse Edwards collared his ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and 15 boards. Freshman forward Maliq Brown recorded a personal-best 15 points and freshman guard Judah Mintz contributed 14 points and eight assists.

The victory earned the Orange a regular-season sweep of the Irish and pushed Syracuse into a second-place tie in the ACC standings.

HOW THE GAME WAS DECIDED
Mintz converted a jumper off of the hands of Joseph Girard III to knot the contest, 71-71, with 2:33 remaining on the ticker. After the Syracuse defense forced an Irish shot-clock violation, Mintz made one-of-two from the foul line, to give the Orange the advantage for good. Syracuse was seven-of-eight from the line in the final 1:46 of play, while limiting Notre Dame to two points.

BATTLING FROM BEYOND THE ARC
The closely contested first frame featured seven ties and eight lead changes. The Fighting Irish scored 40 first-half points and 27 of those came courtesy of nine 3-pointers. Five different Notre Dame performers connect from 3-point range with Trey Wertz knocking down three triples.

Bell, who connected on a trio of 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, helped the Orange stay close with 11 points in the first period. Edwards was strong as well, contributing eight points and eight rebounds prior to the intermission.

Wertz's third trifecta sent the Syracuse into the break trailing, 40-36.

IRISH CONTINUE TO FIGHT
Notre Dame expanded its lead in the second half. A 3-pointer from Wertz but the visitors up 12, 56-44. When Mintz answered with a conventional three-point-play, Marcus Hammond connected from far away to give the Irish a 59-47 advantage with 12:18 remaining.

TURNING POINT
Syracuse's rally started with a basket from freshman Justin Taylor, followed by a basket and free throw from Brown. Taylor fed Brown inside on the play and the Irish edge was reduced to seven, 59-52. Notre Dame managed to go up by nine two more times, the last on Hammond's basket that made it 63-54.

Bell and Taylor nailed back-to-back three-points and Edwards followed with one from the foul line to round out a 7-0 Orange run, which cut Notre Dame's lead to just two, 63-61.

With five minutes left, Brown logged consecutive dunks and Bell closed out the second seven-point spurt with a three-pointer. SU was up 69-68 with 3:20 remaining.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

The Orange have captured four of the last five Notre Dame pairings.
Syracuse improved its advantage in the all-time series against the Fighting Irish to 33-23.
The Orange are now winners of nine of their last 11 games.
Edwards had a second consecutive solid effort against the Irish. In the December win at South Bend, Edwards contributed 22 points and 16 boards.
The Orange committed just six turnovers.
Syracuse led Notre Dame in paint points (36-20), and second-chance points (16-8).

UP NEXT
Syracuse heads to the sunshine state for a Monday-night matchup against Miami. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game will air live on the ACC Network.

TICKETS
Syracuse men's basketball tickets are available online (cuse.com/tickets), by phone (1-888-DOMETIX), and at the Dome Box Office (Gate B).

For complete coverage of Syracuse men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter (@Cuse_MBB) and Instagram (@cuse_mbb).

Gallery: (1-14-2023) Syracuse vs. Notre Dame