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Syracuse rode a bumpy path into its conference opener. It barely squeaked by mid-major opponents. It was defeated by all three Power Four opponents, including a 26-point drubbing to Tennessee.

Through all of this, the Orange also lost their leading scorer J.J. Starling. Facing the Fighting Irish meant an opportunity to revitalize SU’s season. ND was without its star in Markus Burton and dropped its last five games. Still, SU couldn’t take advantage and hit a new low.

In its Atlantic Coast Conference opener, Syracuse (4-4, 0-1 ACC) fell 69-64 to Notre Dame (5-5, 1-0 ACC) Saturday in South Bend. The Orange made zero 3s for the first time since Nov. 28, 2014, when it went 0-for-14 against Holy Cross. SU finished this one 0-for-9 from 3.

“We weren’t really focused on getting a lot of 3s up. Mentally, we were so focused on getting the ball inside that we didn’t realize that we weren’t taking any shots,” Elijah Moore said postgame.

Trailing 60-58 with 4:18 to play, Jaquan Carlos stole the ball and dished it to Jyáre Davis. The Delaware transfer backed inside and hit a tough midrange jumper to tie the game. On the other end, sophomore Braeden Shrewsberry was left wide open, knocking down a 3 with 3:27 to play.

Moore hit two midrange shots but Shrewsberry hit a deep 3 again in between, bolstering the Fighting Irish’s lead. SU had a chance to tie the game but couldn’t get an open look. Lucas Taylor missed a floater and put ND to the line to ice it with 17 seconds to play, leading 67-64. The Fighting Irish closed it out with multiple free throws while Davis missed an open 3.

To begin the game, Tae Davis got the Fighting Irish going with a layup inside but Eddie Lampkin Jr. quickly answered on the other end. Shrewsberry, who entered averaging 15.2 points per game, then built a mismatch with Lampkin.

He stepped up beyond the arc and Shrewsberry made him pay, crossing over before shooting a 3 plus the foul to take a 6-2 lead.

“We knew that he was a good shooter coming into the game. We did a real good scout report on him. So I think our goal was to force him into taking tough 2s,” Carlos said of Shrewsberry.

Straight out of the first media timeout, a miscommunication left Tae wide open in the corner. His 3 extended the lead to five.

With Starling out, SU head coach Adrian Autry toyed with his lineup. When subbing Lampkin and Chris Bell out, the Orange put Carlos, Moore and Kyle Cuffe Jr. in at the same time. Autry then subbed Carlos for Chance Westry, who appeared in his second game since transferring to SU last year.

Jyáre cut into Notre Dame’s lead by driving to the basket. He scored seven straight, with two layups before a midrange fadeaway plus the foul to tie it at 16-16 with under 10 minutes to play.

The Fighting Irish regained the lead with five straight points from J.R. Konieczny. The junior guard averaged just 4.0 points entering the contest, but a 3-pointer and blow-by layup put ND up by five with 7:49 remaining in the first half. Konieczny ended the first half with 13 points.

Meanwhile, the Orange failed to score from the 9:44-5:11 mark, turning the ball over four times.

“Credit to them for winning, but they’re a team that we definitely could’ve beat,” Moore said. “We beat ourselves down with simple mistakes and just our game plan.”

Lampkin eventually broke the stretch with a free throw and a layup but the Fighting Irish continued to score. After converting early, Shrewsberry was held off the scoresheet. That was until a deep 3 with 3:34 to play gave ND a 26-19 lead, its largest lead yet.

In the final minutes of the half, SU chipped away at the deficit. Still, the Orange trailed 30-26 at the half. Syracuse cut its deficit to 33-32 minutes into the second frame. Carlos drove inside for a lay-in and the Orange forced a shot-clock violation. Donnie Freeman scored on a layup for SU’s first lead at the 16:28 mark but Shrewsberry knocked down a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to retake it.

As SU wrestled back and forth, it did so without shooting beyond the arc. The Orange were 0-for-4 from 3 in the first half before missing five more shots from deep in the second half.

Trailing 43-40 with just over 12 minutes to play, Freeman collected the ball and drove coast to coast, flushing a floater and-1 to tie it at 43-43. The freshman totaled 20 points and 11 rebounds.

“I thought Donnie and Jyáre had it going, so we stayed with that,” Autry said.

Notre Dame extended its lead back to 52-49 with Shrewsberry converting a fadeaway jumper. Jyáre kept SU in the game by knocking down two jumpshots. He pushed his total to 15 through 19 minutes, his third game in double figures this season. The Orange trailed 54-51 with 7:59 to play and Jyáre answered again.

A nine-point stretch for the Delaware transfer was capped with a layup and-one to tie it. Freeman then took the lead with a floater. ND’s Kebba Njie responded by driving in and converting a layup plus the foul to lead 59-56. Freeman made a layup and Matt Allocco pushed Notre Dame’s lead to 60-58.

As Syracuse continued cutting the distance, its lack of 3-point shooting down the stretch plagued it, leading to its first ACC loss. In the modern game, it’s nearly impossible to make zero shots from beyond the arc and win. The trend continued for Syracuse on Saturday despite continued confidence in the perimeter presence.

“I believe in my guys, they’ll keep shooting, and we’ll keep finding them. Get it down low, they’re open. I’ll throw it to them without even second thoughts,” Freeman said.

Published on December 7, 2024 at 2:20 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky