Photo by Jacqueline Mundry
SOUTH BEND, IN. -- After suffering its first conference loss to Florida State on Wednesday night, Notre Dame returned home after two weeks on the road and defeated Syracuse, 84-66, in front of 9,149 fans at the Joyce Center on Saturday afternoon.
The victory over the Orange was the first win against Syracuse in exactly five years, and the first since the Irish joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Road Woes
The Orange continued to struggle defensively away from the Carrier Dome, allowing the Irish to carve up its zone for a majority of the game. Notre Dame shot a solid 49 percent from the field on 29-for-59 shooting.
"Our defense is not good," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. "It has been really bad on the road. If you can play defense at home, there's no reason you can't play it on the road. The court's the same. We just, are not."
The Irish had 20 assists, with nine coming from point guard Matt Farrell. With just over nine minutes left in the first half, the junior guard found V.J. Beachem with a behind-the-back pass, leading to a one-handed flush that sent the crowd to its feet. Notre Dame led 20-14. Farrell finished with 15 points to go along with his nine assists.
"He's really, I think, one of the most improved players I've seen come into this league," Boeheim said.
Beachem's Career Day
Beachem began his college career at Notre Dame in 2013. The senior forward had scored 22 points three times - two of those performances coming this season. On Saturday, however, Beachem was on a different level, going 12-for-22 from the field, 6-for-10 from behind the arc, and finishing with a career-high 30 points. With his team up 20-14, Beachem drilled back-to-back threes, giving the Irish a twelve point lead with 7:48 left in the first half.
"V.J. was fabulous," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. "That may have been brewing for a while, but I thought he moved himself and we found him in different spots. I think what may have helped him is we had him guarding (Tyler) Lydon a little bit. It was different kind of defensive challenge for him, and I think that helped him on the offensive end."
Runaway Victory
Despite being overmatched and outperformed by the Irish in the first half, Syracuse found itself trailing by only nine at the break. Lydon's slam to start the second half cut the deficit to seven.
The Orange then went scoreless for almost four minutes, with the Irish going on a 9-0 run, and expanding their lead to 16 with just over 16 minutes to play. After a mini 4-0 run by the Orange that cut the lead to 14 with 8:31 to go, Beachem crushed the Orange's hopes, draining another three and putting the Irish up 66-49.
Notre Dame cruised to victory, remaining undefeated at the Joyce Center this season (12-0).
The Road Ahead
As for Syracuse, the road remains a mystery for Boeheim's bunch. As conference losses continue to mount for the Orange, so does the frustration level. Lydon, one of the few bright spots from Saturday's loss, continued his sophomore campaign with another solid performance, finishing with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds.
"Everyone is having mental lapses and they're not playing defense the right way," Lydon said.
Chants of "N.I.T." emanated from the student section at the Joyce Center as the game came to a close. With only 11 games remaining for the Orange before the ACC tournament begins, and just three conference victories on its resume, the NIT might be a generous overestimation for this team's future.
The Orange (11-9, 3-4 ACC) will be back at the Dome on Tuesday night to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (12-7, 3-4 ACC). Tipoff is at 8 p.m.
Notre Dame (17-3, 6-1 ACC) will host 16th ranked Virginia (15-3, 5-2 ACC) on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
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