National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Syracuse 65, Notre Dame 60
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Where: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, South Bend, Indiana
Officials: # Tim Clougherty, # Mike Eades, # Mike Roberts
Attendance: 9149

Syracuse 65, No. 8 Notre Dame 60: B.J. Johnson tied his career high with 19 points and Trevor Cooney came up big down the stretch as the Orange stunned the host Fighting Irish.

Johnson had not scored 19 points since the season opener, but the sophomore forward shot 7-of-13 off the bench and grabbed six rebounds for the Orange (18-10, 9-6 ACC). Michael Gbinije chipped in 12 points and six steals, Cooney added 11 points and Syracuse leading scorer Rakeem Christmas recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 13:47 left.

Bonzie Colson had 16 points off the bench to pace Notre Dame (24-5, 12-4), which entered with the second-best field-goal percentage in the country (51.3) but shot only 34.7 percent, including 3-of-22 from outside the arc. Zach Auguste had 10 points for the Irish, but the other four starters combined to shoot 8-of-33.

Cooney knocked down a shot with 5 1/2 minutes left, a tough jumper with 4:13 remaining and a long 3 with 2:06 to play before depositing a layup with 1:43 left to make it 56-49. Pat Connaughton's 3-pointer and Jerian Grant's 3-of-3 effort from the foul line drew the Irish with 59-57 with 40 seconds left, but Johnson's three-point play and Gbinije's two free throws pushed the lead back to 64-58 with 23 ticks showing.

Syracuse led 25-15 with just over two minutes left in the first half before a late charge by Notre Dame narrowed the margin to 27-22 at the break. The first half featured a hideous shooting display as the Irish were 5-of-24 overall and 2-of-13 from the arc while the Orange missed eight of their 10 3-pointers as part of a 34.4 percent effort.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Colson, who entered at 67.6 percent from the foul line, finished 8-of-9. Jerian Grant was 9-of-12 from the stripe en route to 13 points and added nine assists. ... Connaughton had 13 points and 15 rebounds. He also did not commit any of the team's 14 turnovers. ... Syracuse, which was beginning a stretch against three straight top 10 opponents, visits No. 5 Duke on Saturday before hosting No. 3 Virginia on Monday.
Top Game Performances
 
Syracuse   Notre Dame
B.J. Johnson 19 Scoring Bonzie Colson 16
Tyler Roberson 3 Assists Jerian Grant 9
Rakeem Christmas 12 Rebounds Pat Connaughton 15
Michael Gbinije 5 Free Throws Made Jerian Grant 9
Michael Gbinije 6 Steals Steve Vasturia 4
Rakeem Christmas 2 Blocks Bonzie Colson 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Syracuse 65 40.4 4-16 15-22 11 37 3 11 13
Notre Dame 60 34.7 3-22 23-30 11 33 2 9 14