Orange Squeeze Victory from Fighting Irish in a Close Encounter

The Syracuse Orange edged out the Notre Dame Fighting Irish with a nail-biting 88-85 victory. The Orange, maintaining an unblemished record, showcased their offensive tenacity against the Fighting Irish's formidable defense. The home team's triumph was witnessed by 25,194 fans at the JMA Wireless Dome.

From the onset, Syracuse displayed an aggressive offense that put them ahead in the first half with a substantial lead. Their scoring was well-distributed among players who managed to rack up 49 points before halftime. The Orange's defensive efforts were equally impressive; they tallied four blocks and ten steals over the course of the game which contributed significantly to their win.

Syracuse’s ability to convert turnovers into points was particularly devastating for Notre Dame; they scored 31 points off turnovers compared to Notre Dame’s 13. This disparity underscored Syracuse’s tactical acumen in exploiting their opponent's mistakes. Moreover, Syracuse demonstrated superior ball handling and teamwork with an assist-turnover ratio of 2.43 while maintaining fewer personal fouls at 14 against Notre Dame’s 15.

The second half saw a more determined effort from Notre Dame as they tried to close down on Syracuse’s lead by adding another impressive 56 points to their tally but fell short by three points as time expired. Despite shooting at high percentages across all formats – two-pointers at 64 percent, field goals at 62 percent and three-pointers at an outstanding rate of 57 percent – it wasn’t enough for them to take home victory.

Notre Dame also had strong performances in paint scoring where they netted a total of 38 points but were outdone by Syracuse who dominated this area with a whopping total of fifty paint points contributing greatly towards their final score tally.

As both teams fought hard on court there were only two times when scores were tied and just one lead change throughout this intense conference game indicating how closely matched these two sides were during this encounter.

Looking ahead, fans can catch the next game for Syracuse Orange as they face off against Virginia Tech Hokies on February twenty-seventh at seven o'clock PM Eastern Time right here in JMA Wireless Dome located in Syracuse NY zip code:13210 broadcasted live on ESPNU network ensuring no one misses any action from what promises be another exciting match-up.