The questions, Saturday night, were numerous.
Would Notre Dame finally be able to get over the hump that is Syracuse?
Could the Irish match the Orangemen in talent and toughness?
Should they try to answer every big Orange bucket with one of their own?
The answers, though, were simple, singular and sadly familiar: No, no and no.
Syracuse beat Notre Dame 81-70 at the Joyce Center. It was the Irish’s 10th loss in the last 11 meetings.
By the end, the outcome seemed inevitable. But the game didn’t start that way.
Early on, the Irish (8-5, 2-2 in the Big East) held No. 17 Syracuse (13-1, 3-0) scoreless for a 4:22 stretch while taking a 15-10 lead.
Syracuse returned the favor, reeling off 13 straight points as the Irish didn’t score for 5:29.
For the half, the Orangemen shot a sizzling 53.1 percent, marking the seventh time in the last eight games they have connected on more than half their shots in the opening period.
They were even better in the second half when Billy Edelin scored 15 of his 17 points. They made 18-of-30 shots (56.5 percent).
“This game was a matter of which team could stop the other because both teams can score,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We played man on man, and that was the difference because we played it well.”
How well?
The Orangemen squashed Irish comeback attempts with 10 steals, six blocked shots and 14 turnovers.
One of the few Irish bright spots was center Tom Timmermans, who scored 16 points.
The Irish, down five at halftime, quickly narrowed the gap to 48-47 about five minutes into the second half. But five Syracuse points in 13 seconds stamped out the comeback.
That they kept the game close was a testament to Irish intensity. That the Orangemen maintained a lead was a testament to their superior skill.
“They’re just a lot more explosive than we are,” Irish point guard Chris Thomas said.
And as Syracuse rampaged, Notre Dame retreated, settling for long shots rather than working the ball inside.
“With all the big men Notre Dame has, I’m surprised they didn’t have more buckets in the paint,” said Hakim Warrick, who had a game-high 19 points. “Going in we were expecting them to have 40-50 of their points through their big men.”
But the Irish didn’t have the patience for that type of attack.
“I think we get a little big anxious to put the dagger in them right away and get a quick three, but we just have to play smart,” Thomas said.
Perhaps most damaging for an Irish squad intent on returning to the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight year, Saturday’s loss drops the Irish to 0-3 against ranked teams.
What must the Irish develop to improve?
“Toughness and heart,” Timmermans said. “We want to answer fast. Sometimes it’s the wrong thing to do. Sometimes you have got to run through your motions and not get rattled by what the other team does.”
