Phil D’Abbraccio (20-7): Notre Dame 74, Syracuse 65
SOL
Syracuse has shown some valiant fight through this stretch of challenging opponents, but the luck the Orange needs to get past Notre Dame didn’t join SU in South Bend. UND shoots well and shoots consistently from 3-point range and given the open looks that a zone lends itself to, that’ll be more than enough to overcome a lack of a comparable post presence to Rakeem Christmas – whose farewell tour trudges along with another Syracuse loss.

Jesse Dougherty (21-6): Notre Dame 72, Syracuse 61
No luck needed
Both of these team are susceptible to good 3-point shooting and here’s where they differ — the No. 9 Fighting Irish are deadly from behind the arc. Led by Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton, UND is built to slice up the Orange’s zone in all kinds of ways. The one place Notre Dame lags behind SU is in the frontcourt, but Rakeem Christmas can only do so much before the Fighting Irish pull away with a substantial amount of time on the second-half clock.

Jacob Klinger (22-5): Notre Dame 70, Syracuse 55
Shooting the lights out
This is hardly the first time this has been pointed out, but the easiest way to beat the zone is to go over it and no team in the Atlantic Coast Conference has an easier time taking and making 3s than Notre Dame. UND is shooting 40.4 percent from beyond the arc this season. With Trevor Cooney feeling the effects of a back sprain, SU not only has a damaged perimeter shooter, it faces the Fighting Irish with a key defender hobbled. This team’s already stretched and there’s not enough Rakeem Christmas and Michael Gbinije to go around to make up for that — especially not in South Bend where the Irish have only lost once this year.