Notre Dame hands Syracuse 5th straight road loss, 84-66

By Brianna Adams

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA — #15 Notre Dame (17-3, 6-1 ACC) hands Syracuse (11-9, 3-4 ACC) its fifth straight loss on the road as the Fighting Irish dominated against the Orange zone.

Syracuse has yet to see a road victory after facing ranked opponent Notre Dame at the Purcell Pavilion. On Syracuse’s side, the trend of the season continues as zone defense on the road fails to stop top teams in UNC and Notre Dame.

“If you can play defense at home, there’s no reason you can’t play on the road,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “The court’s the same, we just are not.”

Notre Dame had 10 offensive rebounds against Syracuse but where the real contest came was outside the paint. The Fighting Irish were 11-for-26 in three pointers with little to no defense coming from the Orange. Senior forward V.J. Beachem, a man seasoned in field goals, managed to knock six 3-pointers against Syracuse. Beachem had a record setting day in the ACC matchup, setting a new career-high of 30 points. His previous record of 22 points was set back in November against Bryant University. Notre Dame had four players in double figures including Beachem to outscore the Orange.

Syracuse found offensive success in players like Tyler Lydon and Tyus Battle yet could not match Notre Dame’s skills at the basket. This is Lydon’s second straight game in which he scored 20+ points. Both teams being ranked opponents, Lydon knocked 26 points in the loss to #9 UNC and 24 points in the loss to Notre Dame. It was also his third straight game scoring in double figures. Battle scored 17 points in the loss, his fifth straight double figure game.

The Orange will return home after a tough road trip to continue ACC play on Tuesday. Syracuse will face Wake Forest (12-7, 3-4 ACC) in hopes to bounce back from the two losses.