Notre Dame drops heart-breaker to Syracuse
By BRIAN KESSLER
Sports Editor
Head coach Matt Doherty got on the microphone and warned the fans not to throw anything on the court.
Two fans decided not to listen. And when a water bottle hit the court in the closing seconds of the game, Notre Dame was assessed a technical foul that sealed its fate.
"It was the third time something hit the floor and I was on the mic after the first one," Doherty said following Wednesday's 73-71 loss to No. 9 Syracuse at the Joyce Center. "The officials never warned us, but I guess I warned us. It was a tough time to make that call, but we shouldn't have been in that position."
The Irish, however, had the Orangemen just where they wanted them. After trailing by 14 at the break and by as many as 16 in the second half, Notre Dame was down just two points with 44 seconds left in the game and in position to win or send it to overtime. But an intentional foul on David Graves and the ensuing technical on the crowd led to the Irish's demise.
Ryan Blackwell made 2-of-4 foul shots and Syracuse took possession of the ball with 8.8 seconds and a four-point lead. Damone Brown was a fouled and made 1-of-2 foul shots to push the lead to five. Troy Murphy then drained a desperation 3, but time had all but run out on the Irish.
"It shouldn't have come down to that," senior point guard Jimmy Dillon said. "We got down by 14 and dug ourselves a hole. Yeah it's a pivotal point in the game and we wish it didn't happen."
The Irish wish the first half didn't happen either. Syracuse made five of its first six 3-pointers and jumped out to an early double digit lead. Preston Shumpert, who killed the Irish in the teams' first meeting, made all four of his shots including three 3-pointers.
Ryan Blackwell was also unstoppable, putting up 15 points in the first half.
"They are a tough team to play zone against," Doherty said. "They have a lot of interchangeable people that are tough to match up against. Shumpert was just ridiculous in the first half.
I think he is getting me back for not recruiting him at Kansas. I challenged their manhood at halftime and they showed their character. They didn't quit."
Notre Dame, playing man-to-man defense and going with a smaller lineup in the second half, mounted a charge and cut the lead to one with 2:50, but Jason Hart's five points down the stretch and the closing sequence slammed the door on Notre Dame's hope for the upset.
"Our kids showed great character and didn't quit," Doherty said. "We beat them by 12 points in the second half, but two [losses] is a trend, but we just made it a third. We need to right this ship quickly."
Blackwell finished with a game-high 24 points for the Orangemen, who clinched at least a tie for the Big East regular season crown. Etan Thomas finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds, while Hart added 16 points and six assists.
The Orangemen shot 51 percent for the game and outrebounded the Irish, 33-27. Syracuse outscored Notre Dame, 40-20 in the paint.
Murphy scored 20 points and grabbed six boards in a losing effort for the Irish. Freshman Jere Macura came off the bench to score 12 points in 21 minutes of play and Graves added nine points and six rebounds. Notre Dame connected on 12-of-21 shots (57 percent) from behind the arc.
Irish captains Skylard Owens and Todd Palmer got the start on senior night. Owens scored Notre Dame's first basket and Palmer later added a 3-pointer.
Notre Dame travels to the nation's capital Saturday to take on Georgetown in the regular-season finale.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, March 2, 2000
