Mooney gets another double-double, Notre Dame beats Syracuse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — John Mooney matched his career high with 28 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, Prentiss Hubb had 22 points and Notre Dame held off Syracuse 88-87 on Saturday.
Notre Dame (10-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its second straight in the Carrier Dome for the first time since the Irish won on their first three visits — in 1986, 1990 and 1992. Syracuse (8-6, 1-2) saw its three-game winning streak end.
T.J. Gibbs, who matched Hubb with six 3-pointers, finished with 21 points.
Buddy Boeheim led Syracuse with 23 points, Joe Girard had 20 and Elijah Hughes 19. Marek Dolezaj had 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
After Mooney’s lay-in gave Notre Dame a 70-69 lead in a tight game with 5:31 left, Girard scored 10 straight points to put the Orange ahead 79-75 with 3:37 to go.
A jumper from the wing by Boeheim gave the Orange a four-point lead, but a tip-in by Juwan Durham and two free throws by Gibbs moved the Irish within 82-81 with 1:51 left.
Hubb’s 3 tied it at 84 and Mooney’s layup with 40 seconds left gave Notre Dame the lead. Hubb followed with two free throws with 18.1 seconds left.
Girard hit a 3 at the buzzer and appeared to be fouled on the play but none was called and the Irish escaped.
Both teams entered the game averaging over nine made 3-pointers per game, ranking second and third in the conference behind Virginia Tech. Both finished 15 of 31.
Dolezaj’s foul line jumper tied the game at 48 early in the second before Notre Dame fashioned an 11-0 run with the long ball, three from Hubb and another from Gibbs to gain a 64-56 lead.
Two free throws by Hughes and 3-pointers by Boeheim and Hughes knotted the score again at 64 with 8:38 left.
Gibbs went on a personal spurt early, hitting three straight 3s and scoring 10 of the Irish’s first 12 points of the game, including a four-point play. The Orange had four misses and two turnovers in six possessions during the Notre Dame run before the first media timeout.
Syracuse rallied behind Hughes, who hit a pair of 3s and a jumper in succession as the Orange made eight straight shots to tie the game at 28 with 7:13 left in the first half. A shot off the glass by Hughes on a drive through the middle gave the Orange the lead and Quincy Guerrier banked in a 3 in the final minute to give Syracuse a 40-37 lead at the break.
MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Mooney was tied for first in the nation in rebounds-per-game (13.5) and now has recorded 11 double-doubles — eight in a row. He’s the only player in Division I averaging over 14 points and 13 rebounds and reached 700 rebounds for his career early in the second half. He’s the only player in the ACC averaging a double-double.
BIG PICTURE
Notre Dame: The Irish entered the game leading the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.90 — 237 assists with 125 turnovers. The NCAA record for assist-to-turnover ratio in a season is 2.01 by West Virginia in 2006. Notre Dame had nine turnovers in the game to 11 for the Orange.
Syracuse: The Orange entered the game lacking a presence around the basket with a minus-1 rebounding margin and had been outrebounded in six of the previous eight games. Bourama Sidibe had five offensive rebounds in the first five minutes to tie his career high and Syracuse finished with a 21-13 edge on the boards, 7-1 on the offensive glass, in the first half. The second half was a different story as the Irish outrebounded Syracuse 26-15 and notched 24 second-chance points in the game to 14 for Syracuse.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame plays at North Carolina State on Wednesday night.
Syracuse hosts Virginia Tech on Tuesday night.
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