Syracuse Wins in Comeback Fashion, Keep Hopes Alive for Tournament Bid
Even though this was yet another home game with no fans, a hush fell over the Carrier Dome as Syracuse went into the locker rooming trailing Notre Dame 46-32 at the half. The Orange came into this game as 3-point favorites, had the overall better record, and were just the more well-rounded team.
Surprisingly, right out of the gates Syracuse did not appear to be the better team. The Orange struggled early with rotating on defense and were incapable of protecting the rim. Notre Dame’s big man Juwan Durham scored a quick 10 points to start the game and it give the Fighting Irish a quick 17-9 lead before Coach Boeheim was forced to call a timeout.
Notre Dame continued to find holes in Syracuse’s zone defense and were knocking down their three-pointers early, as the Orange did a poor job early of extending out on their shooters. Notre Dame shot just 50% from beyond the arc in the first half.
It was their hustle and ability to outrebound the Orange 20-13, which provided one too many second chance opportunities for them. Without even knowing it, Syracuse found themselves down by 14 heading into the locker room against a team they knew they should not be losing too.
At the end of the first half Coach Boeheim went on to say how, “Defensively we're standing still. We didn't get going early and just gave them open shots. They're a great shooting team. We battled back a bit, missed some easy opportunities inside. We've got to take advantage of those. We didn't play with enough defensive energy.”
In order to get back into this game, everyone in the Carrier Dome knew Syracuse’s energy needed to change if they wanted to give themselves a chance at a comeback win. Once the second half started you could sense a change in the air.
The tables started to turn once Syracuse started to put in their full court press. Down by as much as 17, was cut to just a 60-53 Notre Dame lead with 10 minutes left in the game. The press made Notre Dame turn the ball over and chuck up many ill-advised shots.
After the game Coach Boeheim went on to say how his team is not generally a very good pressing team, but it certainly got the job done in today’s game. The Orange closed the game on a 40-12 run, refusing to allow Notre Dame to regain the lead they once cherished.
Basketball really is about a game of runs. Syracuse took over towards the end of the game when Buddy Boeheim helped sparked a big run for the Orange. Boeheim scored 9 straight points for the Orange, knocking down a three as the shot clock expired, followed by a Guerrier tree-pointer to make it a 60-59 Notre Dame lead with 8:26 left in the game.
Coach Boeheim was so fired up by his team’s run he let out a loud “let’s go,” that everyone in the Carrier Dome could hear. Syracuse never looked back after that managing to seal the victory 75-67.
There are several players who helped contributed to Syracuse’s impressive comeback victory, but it was the play of Buddy Boeheim and Marek Dolezaj that helped spark the win. Boeheim was spectacular in this one, as he came out firing managing to score seven of SU’s first nine points in the game.
Boeheim was really shooting the ball confidently today, finishing with a game high 29 points. He went 6-10 from beyond the arc and knocked down all three of his free throws.
SU’s big man Marek Dolezaj was another standout star in this one. He missed a lot of good opportunities in the paint earlier in the game but did not let that faze him in the second half. After the game, Coach Boeheim went on to say how Dolezaj has been the team’s most valuable player so far this season.
“Marek really does a little bit of everything for us. He’s just been tremendous all year, I can’t say enough about him,” said Boeheim.
Dolezaj finished with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and knocked down all six of his free throws towards the end of the game to help secure SU’s comeback win.
The Orange will get back to work on Monday where they will look to win their third straight game against Mike Krzyzewski Duke Blue Devils. They will hit the road for a 7:00 PM game, where SU will look to keep their hopes at making the March Madness tournament alive.
