Rush The Court

Walker Carey (@walkerRcarey) is an RTC Correspondent. He filed this report after Tuesday night’s game between Syracuse and Notre Dame in South Bend.

Notre Dame entered Tuesday night’s game second in the nation in field goal percentage (51.3%) and fourth in turnovers committed per game (9.1). Both those figures were radically different against Syracuse last night, thought, as the Irish struggled mightily against its 2-3 zone in a surprising 65-60 home defeat. The team’s offensive struggles were evident from the opening tip, as Mike Brey‘s squad shot an ice cold 20.8 percent from the field and committed eight turnovers during the opening stanza. Irish guard Jerian Grant was so befuddled by the Syracuse zone that he was unable to even find a single shot attempt during the disastrous opening half. The Irish had a little life to open the second half to trim a five-point halftime deficit to just one, but the tide turned quickly and Syracuse pretty much coasted the rest of the way. The final offensive numbers for Notre Dame were ugly. It managed to shoot just 34.7 percent from the field, 13.6 percent from three, and committed 14 turnovers. Grant was held to just 13 points on 2-of-9 shooting and was out of rhythm throughout. The following are three thoughts from Tuesday night’s action:

1. Syracuse won this game with its defense and a big performance from B.J. Johnson. Much of the reason for the Irish’s poor shooting performance comes from how well the Orange defended against its dynamic offensive attack. The Syracuse zone pressured the shooters all evening, as the backcourt of Grant, Demetrius Jackson, and Steve Vasturia combined to finish with just 21 points on 5-of-24 shooting (0-of-14 from three). The 2-3 zone was also instrumental in forcing a high number of turnovers, as Notre Dame committed five over its average last night. The Orange are not experiencing the season that they would have liked, but they exhibited in South Bend that their defense on a good night is still capable of stifling one of the nation’s best offensive attacks. Aside from the fantastic defense, Syracuse also received a terrific performance from B.J. Johnson. The sophomore guard tied a career-high with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and provided the Orange with a spark on a night where leading scorer Rakeem Christmas battled foul trouble and finished four points below his season average.
2. This game showcased some of the problems Notre Dame may face in the postseason. Mike Brey has had plenty of issues winning in the postseason during his tenure at Notre Dame, as the Irish have only advanced past the NCAA Tournament’s first week once (2003) and have victim to upsets a number of times. Tuesday night’s loss showcased some of those same issues, such as a seeming inability to attack a zone and the stalling of the offense when three-pointers are not falling. Last night’s loss suggests that the presumptive high-seeded Irish could once against be ripe for the picking when the Big Dance begins next month.
3. Syracuse deserves a lot of credit for playing hard despite being postseason ineligible. When Syracuse announced that it had self-imposed a ban for this year’s postseason a few weeks ago, many figured that Jim Boeheim and the Orange would just pack it in for the remainder of the season. While the Orange entered Tuesday evening winners of just two of five since the ban was enacted, they had clearly competed in each of those contests. Syracuse pretty much had its way with the Irish throughout Tuesday night’s game, as they led for all but four minutes and were tied for three more. Conference road wins are always noteworthy, but when a team that is ineligible for the postseason goes into a tough environment to beat the #9 team in the country, that is something to hang your hat on. Syracuse has a brutal stretch to end its season with road games still to come at Duke and NC State as well as a home battle against one-loss Virginia still on tap. While those three games appear daunting on paper, if the Orange can replicate their efforts from last night with their zone, they might very well capture a couple more surprising wins.