Game Thread | Notre Dame at Syracuse
Notre Dame (10-16, 5-10) at Syracuse (17-10, 8-8)
Date: February 24th
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Where: JMA Wireless Dome
TV: ESPNU | Doug Sherman and Randolph Childress
Line: Syracuse -5.5
O/U: 131.5
QUICK FACTS
- Syracuse leads the all-time series 27-17
- The Orange on the last meeting 78-73 in January of 2023
- Freshman Markus Burton has scored in double figures in 19 straight games
- Burton has scored 422 points this season, which is No. 6 all-time for a Notre Dame freshman
- Notre Dame is No. 2 in the ACC in scoring defense at 64.7 ppg
- Freshman Braeden Shrewsberry is averaging 12.9 ppg in true road games
- ESPN’s Matchup Predictor: 81.2% in favor of Syracuse
PROJECTED STARTERS
NOTRE DAME
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Markus Burton | 16.2 | 3.2 | 4.2 |
| Braeden Shrewsberry | 9.7 | 2.5 | 0.8 |
| Tae Davis | 8.0 | 5.1 | 0.8 |
| Carey Booth | 5.7 | 4.2 | 0.4 |
| Kebba Njie | 4.4 | 5.8 | 0.8 |
SYRACUSE
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Judah Mintz | 18.1 | 3.2 | 4.4 |
| JJ Starling | 13.7 | 3.3 | 1.8 |
| Justin Taylor | 4.8 | 4.1 | 1.0 |
| Maliq Brown | 9.1 | 6.7 | 1.6 |
| Chris Bell | 11.8 | 2.2 | 0.7 |
TEAM STATS
| STAT | SYRACUSE | NOTRE DAME |
| Scoring Offense | 74.9 | 62.3 |
| Scoring Defense | 74.6 | 64.7 |
| FG% | 45.1% | 39.9% |
| Rebounds | 34.1 | 36.7 |
| Assists | 13.7 | 9.9 |
| Blocks | 4.2 | 2.7 |
| Steals | 9.4 | 6.0 |
| Turnovers | 11.5 | 13.0 |
THOUGHTS
This game might mean much for Notre Dame as it relates to postseason play, but the Irish are winners of the last three games and have a chance to end this season the way Micah Shrewsberry hoped when he took over the program. The Irish finally started to turn the corner a month ago and Notre Dame is looking more and more like a basketball again.
On the flipside, Syracuse is also starting to find some consistency as the Orange beat North Carolina and NC State in the last two weeks. Notre Dame’s defense will have its hands full with Judah Mintz, who is averaging 18.1 ppg and has scored in double figures in all but two games this season, including scoring 20 points or more 12 times.
Notre Dame has played well on the road this year, but the JMA Wireless Dome will be a new experience for most of Shrewsberry’s young team. It’s not easy to play in a dome, so it will be interesting to see how the Irish handle it.
The keys to this game will be similar to Wednesday at Louisville. Markus Burton is going to his, but can someone else step up? It’s been Braeden Shrewsberry in recent weeks as he’s upped his three-point percentage by almost 10 percent as he’s now shooting 37 percent from deep. Can Tae Davis or JR Konieczny step up too?
On defense, Notre Dame will make life difficult on the Syracuse guards, which includes JJ Starling, but winning the battle on the boards will be important. The Orange are historically a great rebounding team and limiting second-chance points is critical for Notre Dame given the inconsistent play on offense.
And finally, Saturday will be Jim Boeheim Day at Syracuse.
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