Notre Dame shuts the door on Syracuse for a 74-60 win
By KERRY SMITH
Sports Editor
The long arms of the Orangemen defense could not stretch far enough to eke out a win Tuesday in Notre Dame's 74-60 upset over No. 11 Syracuse.
Syracuse was knocking on Notre Dame's door the entire game, but as the minutes ticked off of the clock and the score remained close, the Irish answered loud and clear.
With the home crowd in a frenzy, Irish center Troy Murphy and forward Ryan Humphrey combined for a pair of hard-hitting dunks while David Graves stepped up on defense and took a charge, sparking the Irish to a 21-point lead with less than four minutes remaining.
"Defensively, when we went to man to man and our student section was making noise, that flusters people," Irish head coach Mike Brey said. "We were taking charges, scraping stuff off the lane. That makes the difference."
Big plays might have sealed the win, but Murphy's consistent play supplied the difference on the court.
The junior scored a game-high 34 points, muscling his way to the foul line 10 times —a much-needed improvement after making only one trip to the line in Jan. 2 loss at the Carrier Dome.
"I tried to be more active tonight," Murphy said. "I can tell how active I am by how many times I go to the line and one time is not very good."
While Murphy's force in the lane frustrated the Orangemen defense, the Irish perimeter players made it happen. Guards Matt Carroll and Martin Ingelsby split 12 assists to the big men down low, while Graves dished out another three.
"Our main focus was to get the big guys easy shots," Graves said. "It was a great team effort. [Murphy] was on the end of some great penetration and some great passes."
The Orangemen also felt Murphy's effects on the boards, as the junior brought down a game-high 16 rebounds.
"We played Murphy well for five games, but sooner or later he was going to get away from us," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. "If he gets in the lane he's going to get fouled and that's the difference. We've got two young guys in the center and they weren't up to the challenge of stopping him."
If Murphy's presence in the lane frustrated the defense, finding the net frustrated the Orangemen on the other end of the court all night.
Trailing at the half by eight, Syracuse managed to tally only 26 points and finished the game shooting just 37 percent form the field and 30 percent from behind the arc.
"We have to shoot the ball well," Boeheim said. "We have no other plan B. We have to get those shots on the perimeter."
Preston Shumpert was the lone bright spot on an otherwise struggling Syracuse team. The forward led his squad with 25 points, posing a threat on inside and out, with 18 points behind the arc.
Forward Damone Brown, recovering from a leg injury sustained in practice started for the Orangemen but was unable to play at full speed, adding only seven points on the night.
"We depend on four guys and when they're healthy we're a good team," Boeheim said. "When Brown is hurt, we don't have anyone to take his place. We need him on the court. He, in his capacity tonight, was the best we had and so we went with him."
DeShaun Williams and Billy Celuck added 10 apiece in the losing effort.
Carroll also scored in double digits for the Irish, adding 14 points with four 3-pointers and a short jumper.
Notre Dame's conference win was important for a team in the thick of the league race. With a meeting against Georgetown next on the agenda, the Irish have a chance to grab hold of the league lead and Brey is ready to prepare his team for the challenge.
"We get to go to Georgetown on Saturday and we get to play for possession of first place in a league," Brey said, "taking care of league business was good for us tonight."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, January 24, 2001
