Five Takeaways: Notre Dame 79 Syracuse 69
Syracuse basketball fell 79-69 at Notre Dame Wednesday night. Here are five takeaways from the loss.
1. Joe Girard
Girard was off shooting the ball all night and it was evident right from the start. He finished 1-7 from the floor, including 0-4 from beyond the arc, for just two points. While he did have four assists, he just did not have the same level of energy that we have seen most of the year. Syracuse needs him Girard to hit shots to win games. He has to play better the last three games for the Orange to have a shot. It was a bad time to have one of these types of games in what was a very winnable opportunity.
2. Atkinson Had His Way
Syracuse had no answer for Paul Atkinson Jr. all night long. He finished with 20 points, 17 rebounds and four assists as he dominated offensive and on the glass. Now 14 of those points came in the first half, so the Orange did better defensively in the second. But Atkinson got two huge rebounds in the final 1:03 that helped preserve an Irish win. He was the best player for Notre Dame most of the night.
3. The Shot
After trailing by as many as 12, Syracuse went on a 15-5 run to trim the lead to just two with 4:05 left. Notre Dame called timeout and the Orange had the momentum. Out of the timeout, Syracuse played tremendous defense for about 30 seconds. With the shot clock winding down, Prentiss Hubb had the ball with a defender right on top of him. He stepped back, several steps behind the three point line, and launched an off balance high arching shot that somehow found the bottom of the net. The lead ballooned to five and momentum switched sides. That shot was significant in how the game played out down the stretch. A tough break for Syracuse after playing strong defense the entire possession.
4. Rebounding
Simply put, Syracuse was dominated on the glass. Notre Dame enjoyed a 41-28 edge there, including 11-3 on the offensive boards. That led to a 22-6 second chance points advantage. Syracuse struggled rebounding the ball early in the season, but had largely fixed that in conference play. Wednesday's effort was a reversion back to early season struggles. That was as big of a reason for the outcome as anything.
5. Jimmy & Buddy
On the positive side, Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim had very strong outings. The Boeheim brothers combined for 47 of Syracuse's 69 points. Jimmy had a career high 27 points on 10-18 shooting and also grabbed seven rebounds. Buddy had 20 points on 8-17 shooting. Both also missed a couple of open looks from three they would like to have back, but also made some very tough shots in the paint to keep the Orange within striking distance. It was not enough, but that may have been the best game for Jimmy this season. It was certainly up there. If those two can play like that the last three games, along with getting more from Girard, Syracuse may have a shot to pull off an upset.
SUPPORT ALL SYRACUSE
SUBSCRIBE TO ALLSYRACUSE.COM NOW TO GET ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE INSIDER CONTENT
JOIN THE ALL SYRACUSE FORUMS FOR FREE AND DISCUSS THE ORANGE WITH OTHER FANS AND OUR STAFF
