Syracuse boosts NCAA Tournament resume with win over No. 25 Notre Dame

Syracuse is going to have to find another guy to step up and score points tonight, it could be Trevor Cooney knocking down triples in the second half or Malachi Richardson, an impressive freshman averaging 13.5 points per game. GT jumped to a14 point lead and held of a late Wolfpack rally. Freshman forward Tyler Lydon contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Orange. The Irish, however, were without leading scorer, Demetrius Jackson, who missed the game with an injury.

On the night where the Orange fans dressed like their Hall of Fame coach on “Dress Like Coach Boeheim Night”, it was only fitting that Boeheim’s early instructions quelled the Fighting Irish’s momentum and changed the complexion of the game. After they scored the first five points of the game, poor shooting and turnovers by the Irish led to a 23-1 run by Syracuse. The Orange (13-8, 3-5 ACC) saw its three-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday as it fell to the Virginia Cavaliers, 73-65, in Charlottesville, Va. Syracuse battled back from a 10-point deficit to tie the game, 47-47, in the second half. Lydon hit a pair of 3-pointers in the last minute, and Vasturia answered with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to close the half. Syracuse: Gbinije has scored in double figures a league-best 23 straight games and is the only player to rank in the top five in scoring (17.4), assists (4.5) and steals (2.5).

Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone proved impossible for Notre Dame to solve minus star junior guard Demetrius Jackson. During his NCAA-mandated suspension, Syracuse was 4-5 under interim coach Mike Hopkins.

But it’s another quick turnover for the Orange as Georgia Tech (12-8, 2-5) comes into town for a 12:00 p.m. ET tip-off on Saturday. “I don’t think Syracuse is one of those teams”.

“Right off the bat, when they went up 5-0, we called timeout he was just saying that it’s on us now”, Lydon said. Noting that Cooney and former Syracuse guard and current assistant coach Gerry McNamara have a history of big games against Notre Dame, Boeheim said, “Gerry and him, must be the Irish thing”. Colson, who averaged 20.7 points over his previous three games, finished with nine…. Marcus Georges-Hunt paced the Georgia Tech offense with 26 points on 8-17 shooting with Nick Jacobs and Adam Smith netting 20 points apiece.

The Yellow Jackets are among the ACC’s staunchest rebounding teams; Charles Mitchell averages almost 10 boards per conference game and Georgia Tech sits second to North Carolina in rebounding margin at plus-4.1.

After Syracuse plays Georgia Tech, it will get only two days off before it hosts Virginia Tech on Tuesday night.