Judah Mintz scored 21 points as Syracuse held on for an 88-85 victory over Notre Dame in Atlantic Coast Conference action on Saturday in Syracuse, N.Y.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Orange (18-10, 9-8 ACC), who won for the third time in four games despite blowing most of a 29-point lead against one of the league’s worst teams. Chris Bell (18 points), JJ Starling (14), Maliq Brown (14) and Justin Taylor (10) also made significant contributions for the hosts.
Markus Burton scored 28 points and Braeden Shrewsberry chipped in 18 points — all in the second half — as the Fighting Irish (10-17, 5-11) had their three-game winning streak snapped. Shrewsberry and Burton each missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied the game in the final 30 seconds as Syracuse held on.
The Irish scored the first five points of the game, but their momentum didn’t last long as the Orange quickly rattled off a 14-2 run.
Julian Roper responded with a bucket for Notre Dame, but Syracuse kept clicking as 3-pointers from Mintz, Starling and Bell helped balloon the lead to 27-10.
The margin reached 20 on Taylor’s free throw with 6:48 remaining in the half and reached as high as 29 on two occasions later in the session. However, Notre Dame uncorked a quick 9-0 run in the final two minutes of the half to get within 49-29 at intermission.
The Orange led 54-31 early in the second half until back-to-back 3-pointers by Shrewsberry ignited a 14-1 run by the visitors. Burton connected on a 3-pointer and a three-point play later in the surge before a dunk by Notre Dame’s Tae Davis dunk made the score 55-45.
Midway through the second half, Burton made a 3-pointer and Shrewsberry added two shots from beyond the arc as Notre Dame inched within 69-63. With under three minutes to play, Shrewsberry knocked down two 3-pointers to get the Irish within 86-80.
Roper drained a 3-pointer of his own to lessen Syracuse’s lead to 86-83 with just over a minute left, but Notre Dame was never able to tie it up, even as Syracuse twice missed the front end of a 1-and-1.
–Field Level Media