SYRACUSE – In a BIG EAST Conference battle that featured brothers Jerami and Jerian Grant on opposite sides, #9/9 Syracuse (19-3, 7-2) emerged with the nation's longest home-court winning streak intact in a 63-47 victory against #25/rv Notre Dame (18-5, 6-4) in the Carrier Dome.
The Orange victory was the program's 36th straight at home -- the best active home run in the Division I ranks.
"Obviously Notre Dame beat us last year out there and when you lose two in a row in this league you get nervous – everybody does -- so this was a really good bounce-back win for us," said SU coach
Jim Boeheim.
C.J. Fair led the Orange with a double-double (18 points and 10 rebounds) and Grant posted a career-best 14 points in his second collegiate start.
Sophomore
Rakeem Christmas also contributed double-digit scoring, tallying 12 points, and added four blocks.
Syracuse jumped out of the blocks with the game's first 10 points, a stretch keyed by
Brandon Triche and Grant, who each had four points. The Irish responded in kind, tallying 11 unanswered points that featured back-to-back three-pointers from Eric Atkins.
Fair answered with two free throws and the Orange never trailed again. With Syracuse clinging to an 18-17 advantage with 7:20 left in the opening period, the Orange scored six straight points -- three by Fair -- to go up by seven. Grant scored twice in the final 1:32 and SU headed into the intermission with a 30-24 advantage.
Syracuse opened the second half by scoring 13 of the first 17 points. Christmas had six of the 13 and the Orange led, 43-28, with 11:08 remaining. Notre Dame shaved the advantage back down to eight but a jumper by Grant had the home team ahead 15 again, 52-37.
SU made all six of its free throws in the final 2:02 of the game and Fair wrapped up the scoring with a three-pointer with 11 seconds left to clinch the 63-47 decision.
SU will return to action this Sunday, Feb. 10
th when it hosts St. John's at 3 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The conference matchup will be broadcast live on ESPN.
Previously Reported:
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – The Syracuse University men’s basketball team will look to rebound from a road loss at Pittsburgh tonight when it hosts Notre Dame at the Carrier Dome.
The loss was SU’s second in a row. Before losing to the Panthers 65-55 at the Peterson Events Center, the Orange lost to Villanova 75-71 in overtime in Philadelphia.
SU is 18-3 overall and 6-2 in Big East Conference play. The Irish are 18-4, 6-3.
The Orange will still be without senior forward James Southerland due to eligibility issues and center DaJuan Coleman. The Jamesville-DeWitt product is out due to knee surgery.
The game will feature a match-up of brothers as SU’s Jerami Grant will face Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant.
The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
