Notre Dame ends 5-game losing skid at Syracuse's expense

Field Level Media|published: Sat 7th December, 14:57 2024

Notre Dame forward Kebba Njie (14) fights for a rebound during a NCAA men's basketball game against Syracuse at Purcell Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in South Bend.

Braeden Shrewsberry was one of three Notre Dame players in double figures, knocking down six 3-pointers and scoring 25 points as the host Irish snapped a five-game losing streak with a 69-64 victory over Syracuse on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.

Tae Davis and J.R. Konieczny scored 15 points apiece for Notre Dame (5-5, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which survived its league opener despite not having leading scorer Markus Burton (18.2 points per game), has an MCL injury.

Donnie Freeman nearly willed the Orange (4-4, 0-1) to a win, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Jyare Davis also finished with 20 points for Syracuse, which has lost two in a row.

Notre Dame led 30-26 at halftime and the two teams were tied at 43 with 12 minutes left in a game where no team ever led by double digits.

A jumper by Njie Kebba put the Irish back in front with 11:58 to play. Freeman's two free throws tied the game again 8 seconds later.

Kebba was fouled after making a jumper and hit the ensuing free throw for a 59-56 advantage with 5:54 to play, breaking the eighth and final tie of the day.

The Irish were playing their first home game since a stunning loss to Elon on Nov. 22, followed by four more losses. They got off to a strong start on Saturday thanks to Tae Davis, who scored seven quick points and hit a 3-pointer with 15:50 left in the first half to put Notre Dame up 11-6.

Syracuse hit a stretch where it went more than four minutes without a field goal before Jyare Davis ended the drought with a layup that pulled the Orange within 14-13 at the 10:46 mark.

Tied at 16, Konieczny drilled a 3-pointer with 9:31 left and made a layup to spark a 5-0 run. And that would be the end of the scoring for a while.

Syracuse went nearly five minutes without scoring, missing five consecutive shots, while Notre Dame went four minutes without a basket, missing five straight field goals as well.

Both teams finally hit field goals with under five minutes to go. Konieczny scored on a putback for the Irish, and Eddie Lampkin answered with a layup off a steal moments later to cut the Notre Dame lead to 23-19 with 4:27 to go.

--Field Level Media

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