Notre Dame halted a five-game losing streak with a 69-64 win over Syracuse.
Braeden Shrewsberry’s 25 points led the Fighting Irish. Tae Davis and JR Koniencny had 15 each.
Notre Dame led by as much as eight in the first half, but the Orange finished the first half on a 4-0 run, cutting the Fighting Irish lead to four by halftime.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair, with Syracuse taking a two-point lead with 6:47 left. Over the next 4:36, Notre Dame responded with a 13-6 run, pushing the Fighting Irish to a five-point lead with 2:11 left.
Takeaways:
Super Sixth Man: Thirteen of Koniencny’s 15 points came in the first half on 6-9 shooting, 1-2 from the three-point line and a thunderous dunk. With Markus Burton out, the Fighting Irish must get production from all areas, including the bench. Micah Shrewsberry’s offensive philosophy allows the Fighting Irish to have different players fill that production. In this game it was Koniency. In the next game, it could be Burke Chebuhar. It’s part of the reason why Shrewsberry’s offensive concepts could be the Fighting Irish’s biggest weapon during Burton’s absence.
Njie-normous Second Half: Kebba Njie’s second half was what the doctor ordered for Notre Dame. The junior big man scored all nine points in the second half, with five coming from the free throw line. Njie was one of several players that met the challenge of Syracuse’s physicality. If Notre Dame wants to be successful with or without Burton, Njie needs to continue to learn how to maximize his role.
Turnovers/Fouls: Let’s be honest, the only reason Notre Dame’s lead wasn’t more than four at halftime was because of the turnovers (8) and fouls (Syracuse had 14 free throw attempts in the first half). It’s where Burton’s absence was seen the most. When Syracuse decided to be physical on the ball, Notre Dame couldn’t make them pay. That led to some passes that were off-target and the receiver of the pass being off-balanced. The turnovers didn’t improve in the second half when the Fighting Irish committed seven turnovers. The difference was the free throw line. Syracuse had 10 free throw attempts in the second half, and Notre Dame had 21 because of the strength of getting downhill.
