Notre Dame-Syracuse Preview
Halfway through its conference schedule, Notre Dame is right in the mix of the competitive Big East. That could change in a hurry if the 21st-ranked Fighting Irish don't improve their play away from home.
Notre Dame begins a critical stretch of three straight road games Tuesday at Syracuse.
After finishing 12th in the 16-team Big East last season, Notre Dame (17-4, 5-3) is in fifth place at the midpoint of the conference schedule, thanks to a perfect home record.
The Irish are 15-0 at the Joyce Center, but they have been unable to carry that success to the road, going 0-3 with losses to conference foes Georgetown, Villanova and St. John's by an average margin of 12.0 points.
Notre Dame, which opened conference play with five straight road losses last season, has dropped 14 of its last 17 Big East road games. The Irish play at South Florida on Saturday, then conclude their stretch of road games with a Feb. 8 visit to DePaul.
The Carrier Dome has been especially tough for Notre Dame, which has lost seven of its last eight games there. The Orange (15-6, 4-3) have won the last three meetings between the schools overall, including an 88-82 victory at the Joyce Center in last seasons only matchup, and 13 of the last 15 against Notre Dame.
Notre Dame fared better against Villanova at home on Saturday, winning 66-63 after trailing by three points with 3:47 remaining.
"I think this is a step forward for us psychologically," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "For us to have to scratch and claw and grind -- we haven't had to do this here against a good team."
Colin Falls led the Irish with 23 points. He is averaging 17.5 points in his last four games, after averaging just 8.2 over the previous six.
The senior guard scored a team-high 18 points -- all of them on 3-pointers -- in the loss to the Orange last season.
Syracuse (15-6, 4-3) is 12-3 at the Carrier Dome, including two wins in three conference home games.
The Orange, however, return home after dropping consecutive road games -- 64-60 at St. John's on Jan. 21 and 76-71 to Louisville on Saturday.
After taking a 65-51 lead on the Cardinals with 9:40 to play Saturday, the Orange managed just one field goal and turned the ball over five times in the final nine minutes to spoil coach Jim Boeheim's 1,000th game on the Syracuse sideline.
"We just have to keep working hard, get more consistent. It's not out of hand," Boeheim said. "We'd like to do a little bit better job, finish better when we get to the basket, and avoid turnovers. I'm just concerned how we play as a team, what we have to do to get better."
Syracuse is 1-3 this season against ranked teams, with the lone victory coming on Jan. 7, 70-58 at then-No. 15 Marquette.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/preview?gameId=270300183