SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Syracuse (10-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) opened up conference play against Notre Dame (10-5, 0-2) and came up with a much-needed 72-62 win on Saturday afternoon at Purcell Pavilion. The Orange, which had struggled largely in nonconference play, put together a strong performance on the back of Elijah Hughes, Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett, who combined for 58 of Syracuse’s 72 points.

Here are the superlatives from Syracuse’s win.

The Big Moment: Tyus Battle’s stepback jumper to ice the game

With just over two minutes remaining and Syracuse leading by seven, Notre Dame’s offense had gone stagnant. The Fighting Irish desperately needed to shift momentum and come up with a stop. But Battle had other plans. The junior guard drove toward the right corner before taking a stepback jumper, swishing it and extending the SU lead to nine. Notre Dame couldn’t mount a comeback with Battle’s jumper providing the dagger.

Stud: Elijah Hughes

Hughes, one of Syracuse’s most consistent players all season long,  dominated in his first taste of ACC competition. The junior transfer scored a career-high 22 points, added a career-high six 3s, and finished with his first-ever double-double (10 rebounds) for the Orange. When Notre Dame went on runs, Hughes seemed to have a response. With the Fighting Irish gaining momentum with just under six minutes left, Hughes found the ball several feet from the 3 point line. Despite the distance, he pulled the trigger and nailed it, extending Syracuse’s lead to five. On a day Syracuse needed its best players to step up, Hughes did just that, dominating in every way.

Dud: Frank Howard

It seemed as though Frank Howard was 100 percent entering ACC play, but Saturday was another rough game for the senior point guard. Howard’s first shot was a contested pull-up that missed. His next, a 3, missed too. After an offensive rebound and kick out to Howard, he traveled. Nothing seemed to go right for Howard, who finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting. He also turned the ball over two times and didn’t steal the ball once.

Highlight: Oshae Brissett slams home contested dunk

Early in the second half, Syracuse pushed in transition after a D.J. Harvey shot was hit away toward the foul line and into Brissett’s hands. Brissett passed the ball to Hughes, who bounced a pass right back to the sophomore. Brissett drove alongside the baseline before rising up against 6-foot-11 junior Juwan Durham, who averages 9.2 blocks per 40 minutes. Durham’s contest was ineffective as Brissett finished with a vicious dunk in the middle of Syracuse’s 9-0 run to begin the second half.

Lowlights: Guarding T.J. Gibbs and foul trouble

With SU’s 2-3 zone, the opposition is dared to shoot 3s. Notre Dame entered Saturday ranked second in the ACC with just over nine 3s per game. One of the players struggling from beyond the arc, however, was junior point guard T.J. Gibbs. After shooting 40.3 percent from 3 a season ago, Gibbs has struggled in 2018, seeing his percentage dip to 36.3. But against Syracuse’s zone, Gibbs was nearly unstoppable. Several deep treys followed, some coming just a few steps inside half court. There was little the Orange could do, as Gibbs finished with 18 points, including a strong 6-of-13 performance from 3.

Another thing that went horribly wrong for Syracuse on Saturday afternoon in an otherwise positive game was foul trouble. Marek Dolezaj started the game and entered the half with three personal fouls, only to commit his fourth on an unneeded over-the-back foul and the fifth battling with a Notre Dame player near the baseline. SU’s backup option, Paschal Chukwu, also found foul trouble early. Chukwu committed a foul during a double team and then, after missing an alley-oop dunk, fouled out trying for the rebound. That left just Bourama Sidibe for SU’s frontcourt, who in 11 seconds, picked up two quick fouls. While Syracuse won the game and finished strong, its bigs struggled once again with foul trouble.

Published on January 5, 2019 at 1:58 pm

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