By Lizzy Gomez
South Bend, Ind. — While the Syracuse Orange won’t make it into any final four brackets this year, it headed into its final four games of the season with a chance to put another win against a ranked opponent on its resume.
And on Tuesday night, the Orange did just that.
Syracuse pulled off the upset on the road against No. 9 Notre Dame inside the Joyce Center by a final score of 65-60 for its biggest win of the season.
The victory comes just six days after the Orange defeated No. 12 Louisville in the Carrier Dome.
Coach Jim Boeheim said despite making some costly mistakes, his team battled for the win and didn’t allow the Fighting Irish to get comfortable on offense at any point during the game.
“It was a tremendous win for us,” Boeheim said. “They’re a very, very good offensive team. but we did a good job with their offense tonight.”
The Orange pulled off the victory even after senior Rakeem Christmas, who averages 18 points per game, fouled out of with 5:18 left in the second half.
Christmas Reaches Milestone
Before Christmas went to the bench for the final minutes of play, he racked up 14 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season.
With the performance, Christmas now has over 1,000 points in his SU career.
“Everyone stepped up,” Christmas said. “It’s not just me out there — everyone is playing hard.”
Three other Syracuse players also scored in double-digits for the Orange in the victory.
Johnson Leads Scorers, Cooney, and Gbinije Produce
With Christmas in foul trouble for much of the game, sophomore BJ Johnson helped the Orange bring home the win with a 19-point effort, which ties his career high.
Johnson said the improvements in his play all come down to confidence.
“I think I’m just playing real confident right now,” Johnson said. “My teammates are confident in me, as well.”
Johnson went 7-of-13 from the field, making two shots from behind the arc.
Senior Trevor Cooney and junior Michael Gbinije also made baskets from long-range, one coming from Cooney with just over two minutes left in the game after the Irish cut the SU lead down to just two points.
Cooney’s three-pointer gave the Orange a 54-49 advantage, which he quickly bumped up to 56-49 after a layup just 24 seconds later.
Cooney ended the night with 11 points, while Gbinije put 12 on the scoreboard for Syracuse, along with six steals.
The Final Minutes
SU took a seven point lead over the Fighting Irish after Cooney’s basket in the paint at the 1:43 mark.
After some free throws and a Notre Dame three-pointer, the Orange had just a two-point lead over Notre Dame with 39 seconds on the clock.
Gbinije threw the ball down the court to Johnson, who went for a dunk, got the basket and drew the foul.
After Johnson completed the three-point play, Syracuse took a 62-57 lead with 30 seconds left in the game, prompting a slew of Fighting Irish fans to head for the exits.
“[Johnson] was terrific tonight,” Boeheim said. “He was a huge difference in the game.”
Duke, Take 2
Its biggest win of the season puts the Orange at 18-10 overall and 9-6 in conference play as it prepares for this year’s second meeting with No. 4 Duke (24-3, 11-3) on the road.
After putting up a solid effort against the Blue Devils in a loss on Valentine’s Day in the Dome, Syracuse heads back down to Cameron Indoor Stadium for another chance to hand Coach K and his team a loss on Saturday at 7 p.m.
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