Tag: Chris Bell

Notre Dame nearly completes 29-point comeback against Syracuse

No shame to be had after this one at all.

No coach in any sport at any level will say a loss was a moral victory. If one exists though, Notre Dame certainly had one against Syracuse. On a day the Orange honored legendary coach Jim Boeheim, the Irish should have been a patsy. Instead, they made the Orange earn every bit of their 88-85 victory.

This one should have been over early when the Irish (10-17, 5-11) trailed the Orange (18-10, 9-8) by 29 points late in the first half. But the Irish ended the half on a 9-0 run, culminating in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag]. It proved to be a precursor to what was to come.

The Irish got hot from the field in the second half and cut the deficit to four with eight minutes left. The Orange built that lead back up to 10, and it looked like that was it. Except it wasn’t.

With the deficit still at nine and 2:11 to go, [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] and Roper hit back-to-back 3s to bring the Irish within three. Burton rebounded an Orange miss, and the Irish called a timeout to draw up a play that would tie the game.

A Shrewsberry 3 was short off the rim, and Chris Bell got the rebound and was fouled before hitting two free throws to put the Orange up five. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] then made a layup, and after Quadir Copeland missed a one-and-one, Burton had one more chance to send the game to overtime but missed a long 3. That ended a valiant comeback attempt in which the Irish scored 56 second-half points.

All five Orange starters scored in double figures with Judah Mintz’s 21 points leading the way. Bell scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and former Irish guard JJ Starling had 14 along with Maliq Brown.

Burton had perhaps his best collegiate game with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting along with eight assists. Shrewsberry scored all 18 of his points in the second half on six 3-pointers, and [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Louisville statistical leaders through five games

Does anyone here scare you?

Louisville cracked the rankings just in time for Notre Dame to come visit it. On one hand, the timing couldn’t be better for the Irish as a strong season for the Cardinals could mean a chance to bolster their College Football Playoff chances with a win. On the other, it’s the third straight quality opponent for the Irish with another one coming next week in USC, so the schedule isn’t getting any easier. They need a breather as much as anyone in the country.

Take a look at the Cardinals, and you’ll see some players in particular putting up big numbers. One could argue that’s because the Cardinals haven’t really played anyone yet. Whatever the case, this isn’t a team the Irish can afford to relax against. In fact, it’s a borderline trap game.

Here are the players on Louisville’s roster most likely to put their team in the best spot to succeed:

Syracuse youngsters lead comeback win over Notre Dame veterans

Those young whippersnappers in Central New York done beat those old guys.

Once again, Notre Dame’s mantra of getting and staying old didn’t pay off. In fact, it might have served as a detriment this time. The Irish had Syracuse on the ropes, but Jim Boeheim switched things up, and it changed the game’s momentum. Now, the Irish are left to wonder what could have been after a 78-73 loss.

Thanks largely to a season-high 15 3-pointers, the Irish (9-9, 1-6) led by as much as 12 in the second half. It was then that the Orange (12-6, 5-2) went to a full-court press, and that took the Irish out of their rhythm. In a stretch paced by a four-freshman lineup, the Orange made one timely shot after another while the Irish saw their hot shooting go cold and weren’t able to shake off the Orange’s defense. That big lead shrank until it finally disappeared.

[autotag]Marcus Hammond[/autotag] answered freshman Chris Bell’s go-ahead 3 with one of his own, but that was the last good thing to happen to the Irish. Judah Mintz tied the game at 71 on the Orange’s next possession, which was followed by the last media timeout. When action resumed, the Irish couldn’t inbound the ball cleanly, and the Orange made enough free throws from there to seal the victory. The Irish had opportunities to counter those free throws, but they couldn’t recapture their earlier good shooting from beyond the arc.

Bell set a career-high with 17 points, including 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Maliq Brown, another freshman, came off the bench and also hit a career scoring high with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Mintz scored 14, including eight free throws, and dished out a game-high eight assists. Jesse Edwards had a typical game of 13 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

Hammond was the game’s leading scorer with 18 points. [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] was well-rounded with 15 points, six assists and two steals. [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, and [autotag]Trey Wertz[/autotag]’s line included 12 points, seven boards and four dimes.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89