News / Sports
Notre Dame Uses Second Half Surge To Knock Off Syracuse Orange in Big East Tournament
Russell Carter scored 24 points and grabbed 6 rebounds while Colin Falls added 23 points and 5 assists as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (24-6) beat the Syracuse Orange (22-10) 89-83 to advance to the semifinals in the Big East tournament.
Syracuse looked strong in the first half and appeared poised to knock the Irish out of the game when they used a 13-3 run to break a tie and go up 26-16 with just under nine minutes remaining in the half. Unfortunately for the Orange, Notre Dame responded with a 13-2 run and grabbed a one point advantage with five minutes left in the first half.
Both teams traded buckets and Syracuse went into the locker room with a 34-32 lead.
Notre Dame took the lead for good early in the second half and built a 10-point lead with less than ten minutes remaining but Syracuse continued to push at the Irish. The Orange were able to get as close as 87-83 with 27 seconds left but Notre Dame was able to seal the game at the line.
As is often the case in close games, it was free-throw shooting that determined the outcome. Notre Dame shot 22-26 from the line while Syracuse could manage just 16-28 from the charity stripe.
While Notre Dame was knocking down their 15-footers they were also putting up quite a few three-balls as well. They hit 13-34 from downtown while Syracuse struggled at 5-23 from that distance.
Luke Harangody played big for the Irish scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Syracuse was led by Paul Harris who finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds while Terrence Roberts added 10 points and 20 boards in the loss.
Notre Dame advances to Friday night’s match-up with the Georgetown Hoyas while Syracuse waits to see if they get an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
