Irish Finish Off Orange For 13th ACC Victory

Notre Dame MBB vs. Syracuse Box Score

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (20-8, 13-4) earned its 13th Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the season, 12th home game and seventh ACC home game of the season against Syracuse (15-13, 9-8), 79-69, in Purcell Pavilion on Wednesday night. 

Paul Atkinson Jr. dominated the paint all night, leading the Irish with 20 points and 17 rebounds. The graduate student pulled down eight offensive rebounds which helped Notre Dame acquire 22 second-chance points. Senior Nate Laszewski, sidelined for the last two days with a stomach illness, answered the bell with 17 points and three rebounds in 28 minutes. 

Not to be outdone, senior Prentiss Hubb put up a season-high 10 assists and a career-high eight rebounds controlling the Irish offense at the top of the Syracuse 2-3 zone. Hubb’s high-arching three-point field goal at the shot-clock buzzer with 3:38 left kept the Irish believing and put his team up five points in the eventual 10-point victory. 

The Boeheim brothers led Syracuse’s offensive attack, as Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim combined to score 47 points and shoot 18-35 from the field. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Irish big man Paul Atkinson Jr. was told by Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey before the game that a shot against the Syracuse zone was as good as a post feed and to be competitive on the offensive boards. Atkinson Jr. followed through by grabbing four early offensive rebounds and hitting four free throws to give Notre Dame an early 9-8 lead. 

The teams went back and forth over the next 10 minutes before Syracuse edged ahead with a few tough shots by Buddy Boeheim to earn a four point lead at 27-23. The Irish came back with a Laszewski three pointer and a Goodwin baseline jumper to earn a one point lead. 

The Orange put together another mini surge to take back the lead, but Atkinson Jr. continued to grab offensive boards. He ended up with six in the first 20 minutes and posted a double-double before the halftime break. His 14 points and 11 rebounds allowed the Irish to take a 42-38 lead into the locker room. 

After the break, Notre Dame came out to claim a quick five point lead but Syracuse would set the tone for a second half of runs with a 9-0 spurt to take a two-point lead. The Irish offense was finding open shots, just not connecting in the first minutes of the second half. 

A Cormac Ryan corner three pointer settled the home team down and kick started an answering 8-0 run by the Irish. Blake Wesley stole a pass and found Laszewski for a transition three, then Laszewski tagged on another deep ball to push the run to 13-0 and give the Irish a 58-4 lead with 11:59 left. Syracuse turned the ball over four times and was held scoreless for five minutes during the run. 

The visitors kept coming, however, as yet another run bolstered by buckets from Buddy Boeheim cut the Irish lead down to two points with four minutes remaining. 

That was when Hubb stepped up to connect on the deep three pointer with 3:38 left. Atkinson Jr. then found Wesley streaking down the baseline for a layup to push the Irish up seven. 

After a bit of back and forth, it came down to the Irish getting stops followed by rebounds then connecting at the free throw line. The Orange missed their final three shots and also had a turnover which allowed Notre Dame to finish off the game by going nine-for-10 from the charity stripe to claim the 10-point victory. 

NOTES

The 13th ACC victory is the second-most for the Irish during their nine years in the league and one behind the record 14 by the 2014-15 team (18 league games that season, the Irish will play 20 this year) • the 20 total team victories marks the 16th in the 22 years of the Mike Brey era at Notre Dame • the 17 rebounds are a career high for Atkinson Jr. and his second 20/10 game of the year (also at Miami) • the 17 rebounds are the most for an Irish player since John Mooney had 17 at Wake Forest on February 29, 2020 • the game-high 10 assists for Hubb are the most of the season and one off his career high of 11 against Detroit Mercy on December 10, 2019. 

UP NEXT

The Irish continue a two-game home stand with Georgia Tech on Saturday, February 26, 2022, at 5 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.