Notre Dame Tops Syracuse 69-64 in ACC Opener
When you’re on a five-game losing streak, it doesn’t matter how you win, especially when it’s the ACC opener at home.
Notre Dame (5-5, 1-0) and Syracuse (4-4, 0-1) didn’t play the cleanest game of the year, but the Fighting Irish found a way to gut out the win 69-64.
Braeden Shrewsberry led the Irish with 25 points on 8-fo-15 shooting, which included hitting six threes, while Tae Davis and JR Konieczny added 15 points on the afternoon.
The Irish defense picked up the slack for a sloppy day on offense as Notre Dame totaled 15 turnovers and had just three players in double figures. Notre Dame won the battle on the boards 34-31, but most importantly, Syracuse shot 0-for-9 from the field, which was massive as the Irish held a three-point lead with less than two minutes remaining.
“Toughness,” Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry said when asked what he learned about his team. “There have been times where we haven’t gotten a key stop or gotten a bucket when we need it. It gets deflating sometimes. It’s a close game, it’s late and guys start to get nervous. There were a couple possessions where there were some shots we were willing to live with.”
Game situations have been a struggle during the Shrewsberry era as he works to build confidence in his team, but also develop a mindset that the Irish can in fact take a game over.
On Saturday, Notre Dame took the game from Syracuse. With the game tied at 60 with 3:38 to play, Notre Dame held the Orange to just four points while Braeden Shrewsberry hit to big-time three-pointers to seal the win.
The Irish finished the small details that have plagued them early this season. Notre Dame got stops and then rebounded the basketball. It sounds simple, but rebounding at crucial times is something the Irish have struggled with through 10 games.
“Tae’s in foul trouble and he’s one of our better defenders,” explained Shresberry. “(Julian) Roper is in. JR is in. Different guys are in at different positions and still getting stops. That’s confidence right there. I’m building confidence in different guys, but they’re building confidence in themselves.”
Junior big man Kebba Njie is one of those players who is starting to find confidence. The 6-foot-10, 250-pounder scored nine points in the second half, but more importantly, Njie pulled down four huge rebounds and blocked a shot to force Syracuse into a shot clock violation.
Njie’s attitude was the difference in this game. He wanted it and took the game from Syracuse, which should serve as a significant confidence boost for the Ohio native.
In fact, Syracuse big man, Eddie Lampkin, entered the game averaging 11.7 ppg and 8.4 rpg, but Njie held firm in the post as the 6-foot-11, 265-pounder tallied just five points and five boards on the day.
“He’s probably the guy who has been affected the most without Markus (Burton) in terms of getting easy baskets,” said Shrewsberry. “I challenged him the other about his physicality right in front of our whole team in the film room. For us to take another step, he needed to be more physical with how he was playing and I thought he did that.”
Konieczny scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half to give Notre Dame a much-needed boost on the offensive end while also keeping Purcell Pavilion engaged as he threw down a monster dunk.
Shrewsberry had a feeling a big game was coming, as the South Bend native had a great practice on Friday despite not playing a huge role in last week’s game in Las Vegas.
“Coach (Kyle) Getter had talked to him about different things in practice,” Shrewsberry explained. “He had asked me to have a conversation with JR before practice. After practice, he was like, ‘Did you talk to JR?’ I was like, “Absolutely not.’ I didn’t have to.
“JR’s energy was so great yesterday. How I judge who plays and who doesn’t play is usually off of practice. You practice well, you’re going to play. You’re building trust. You’re telling me I’m ready to go. The way he practiced yesterday was just like the way he played today. We have to keep talking to him and harping on him. When he plays with that energy, it’s huge for us. We need that boost, whether it’s rebounding, scoring, or defending. I thought was awesome tonight.”
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will host Dartmouth on December 11th at 7:00 PM on ACC Network Extra.
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