With just under 17 minutes to go in Saturday’s game at Syracuse, it appeared Notre Dame was well on it’s way to reaching the .500 mark in conference play for the first time all season.
The Irish led the Orange by 20 with 16:53 to play but were outscored by 28 points down the stretch, ultimately falling 75-67.
Instead of getting a nice road win and finding themselves at .500 in ACC play for the first time since last March, Notre Dame now sits at 6-8 in the conference and 9-11 overall.
Head coach Mike Brey stated after the game that the latest collapse has him thinking his team is inside its own heads.
“There’s a little bit of a mental hurdle,” “There’s a little bit of, ‘Here we go again.’”
He also didn’t run from blame himself, stating “I’m not pointing fingers, I always accept responsibility.”
I’m not sure if it’s more impressive or more embarrassing but Notre Dame’s 20 point lead evaporated in just 9:15 of game time when Buddy Boeheim buried a three to give the Orange their first lead at 62-60. The Irish would score just seven more points the rest of the way.