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The last time Syracuse played Notre Dame, a go-ahead layup from Judah Mintz late in regulation gave the Orange a surprise win to kickstart conference play. At the time, Notre Dame was 6-1 and looking to continue its hot start by notching its first Atlantic Coast Conference win of the season. Syracuse, conversely, was coming off a loss to Illinois in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge that showcased one of its worst offensive performances of the season.

After losing to Syracuse, the Fighting Irish went on to a 3-6 record, losing to Marquette and Boston College in the process. Conversely, the Orange embarked on a five-game winning streak as they entered Saturday night as winners of eight of its last 10 games.

Instead of a defensive matchup, both teams caught fire from deep. The Orange (12-6, 5-2 ACC) trailed for the majority of the game, but a late run in the second half propelled them to a 78-73 win over the Fighting Irish (9-9, 1-6 ACC).

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s comeback win.

Irish thrive from deep

In the first matchup between the two teams, Notre Dame took 33 of their 60 shots from beyond the arc. While they started off hot, the Fighting Irish cooled off in the second half, allowing the Orange to come back and ultimately steal a win in South Bend. Early on against Syracuse tonight, Notre Dame flashed the same ball-screen offense and used extra passes in order to get men open in both corners for 3s. The Orange’s 3-point defense has improved since its early games against teams like Colgate and Bryant, though they still entered Saturday night ranked 151st in perimeter defense according to KenPom.

Typically, Cormac Ryan and Dane Goodwin shoulder Notre Dame’s makes from range, but Trey Wertz and Marcus Hammond added in a combined eight 3s off the bench. The Fighting Irish started slow, missing their first six 3-point attempts, allowing the Orange to keep pace. Then, Hammond hit a wide-open triple from straight on with just under 12 minutes left in the game, stretching ND’s lead to four points — the Fighting Irish’s third-straight made 3.

Notre Dame finished the first half tallying nine 3-pointers and a four-point lead going into the half. Although Syracuse extended its patented 2-3 zone the same way it did against Virginia Tech, it hardly worked against the Fighting Irish’s sharpshooting.

Maliq Brown contributes from the bench

After recording his first collegiate double-double last time out against Virginia Tech, Maliq Brown came off the bench early in the first half and made a significant difference. After Notre Dame started to heat up from deep, head coach Jim Boeheim sent Brown in to replace Benny Williams and provide a defensive spark. The forward would go on to record a career-high in points scored (15).

After Jesse Edwards missed two straight layup attempts from right under the basket, Brown threw down a put-back dunk after keeping the Syracuse possession alive on the offensive boards. A few plays later, Brown initiated the Orange offense by grabbing a defensive rebound and providing an outlet pass to Joe Girard III. On the other end of the floor, Girard stepped around his defender and converted on a transition layup off the glass.

Brown also helps Syracuse by complementing Edwards inside the paint, serving as another option for the offense that loves to score around the basket. At one point, Edwards collected a feed in from Girard and was immediately double teamed. He flipped the ball through two defenders over to Brown, who went up and flushed home a wide-open dunk.

Syracuse responds with 3s of its own

The Orange aren’t full of 3-point shooters, nor have they found consistency shooting from deep. The Orange rank 61st in the country from range, finding success at a 36% clip. Initially, Syracuse tried to keep pace with Notre Dame’s 50% 3-point shooting effort and hardly made a dent. Girard struggled and finished the night shooting just 1-for-5, and Mintz — who rarely finds success from beyond the arc — heaved up three missed 3s.

But, led by Bell of all players, the Orange finished the first half shooting 5-of-13 from deep and followed up its 38.5% first-half performance by shooting 3-for-6 in the second. Coming into the JMA Wireless Dome, Notre Dame allowed its opponents to shoot 32.2% from deep, but had trouble adjusting to Syracuse’s forwards playing up and more toward the wings. Though Boeheim has been frustrated by the lack of rebounding from the forward position, he opted for a more spread out offensive approach, which opened up Bell and Williams on the outer arc for made 3s.

With under 10 minutes left in the second half, two 3-pointers helped catapult a late-game run for the Orange that ultimately led to the win. First, Mounir Hima kicked out to Bell off a missed 3 from Mintz and Bell swished through a 3-pointer. Then, after JJ Starling missed a corner 3-pointer on the other end, Justin Taylor came back in transition and banged through a 3 of his own.

Syracuse wins points in the paint battle

The Orange had a two-pronged approach to winning a second straight game against Notre Dame and forcing the Fighting Irish to take more 3s than they were comfortable with. For them, it was better to let Notre Dame tire themselves out and repeat a poor 3-point performance from the last matchup than allow the Fighting Irish to infiltrate the 2-3 zone. They finished with just 20 points from inside the paint, an area locked down by Edwards and further disrupted by Williams and Brown.

Then on offense, the Orange continued to fuel their offensive through Edwards down low. Mintz, who is one of the worst perimeter shooting guards in the country, also drove into the lane attempting to generate offense. With just under 13 minutes left in the game, Mintz, fresh off of a third-straight Syracuse turnover, toyed with his defender, lulling him back. SU’s point guard then drove down the right side of the lane and, after getting pushed, lofted up a layup attempt that fell in. The Orange’s deficit fell to just nine points, bringing the Syracuse home crowd to life.

Notre Dame only found success from inside the paint on a few possessions when it was able to break the Orange’s full-court press and get a fast-break layup. Syracuse, meanwhile, continued to work inside between Edwards and Hima in order to catalyze a mid-second half comeback that led to a nail-biting finish down the stretch. With five minutes left in the game, Brown got two consecutive feeds inside from Mintz and, because he was so wide open, was able to leap up and slam down two straight dunks to bring Notre Dame’s lead down to just two points.

Published on January 14, 2023 at 9:39 pm

Contact Anthony: [email protected] | @anthonyalandt