When Joe Girard III’s shot fell through, a Carrier Dome full of fans believed that the freshman had done it again. In the last four minutes of the game, Girard had dug the Orange out of a deficit. It seemed nothing could miss. After the final shot was released, a Notre Dame defender grazed Girard’s arm. “Maybe on the hand, maybe on the arm a little bit,” Girard said. Syracuse turned away from the inbounder and eyed the near-side referee.

Zero-point-four seconds remained on the clock, and Notre Dame’s Prentiss Hubb underhanded the ball to a teammate. The clock ran out and Syracuse halted — confused, shocked. Hubb smirked. A possession that after a few misses never seemed promising might have been the last fortunate swing the Orange needed. But instead a win it needed so badly was seemingly stolen from its grasp.

“There’s only 0.4 seconds on the clock so there wasn’t really much that we could do anyways,” Girard said.

Syracuse (8-6, 1-2 Atlantic Coast), strengthened by runs yet lacking enough firepower to finish off the Fighting Irish, lost 88-87 to Notre Dame (10-4, 1-2). When it seemed like the third and final run would not come, Girard’s explosion pushed the Orange over the top, but plays near the end of the game left SU with a one-point loss and yet another résumé blip. 

“They made the shot at the end they had to make,” Boeheim said. “We couldn’t make stops.”

The loss again damages an SU team that has little to no evidence of postseason credibility but also provided a glimpse of optimism. The early part of the schedule brought some of its toughest early-season opponents in a few years yet also made for a difficult evaluation of a young Syracuse roster. Five losses before the new year normally has spelled doom for a Syracuse program that spent each of the last four years on the brink. But Jim Boeheim stated after a 10-point loss to Georgetown on Dec. 14 that SU is “not as bad as people think we are.” It was a change in tune from when his SU team appeared it would take longer than he previously thought. 

The first run, one that changed the pace of the game, started a little over 10 minutes into the contest. Syracuse — through continuous aggression by Bourama Sidibe on offensive rebounds, a brief spurt of scoring from Marek Dolezaj and a few Buddy Boeheim 3-pointers — kept it close. But a scoreless Elijah Hughes limited the arsenal the Orange could bring.

A few makes traded back-and-forth, and the Orange struck within two shots of the Irish. Hughes dribbled up the right elbow and pulled up for a 3-pointer that brought them within two points. Notre Dame responded with a 3-pointer, but then Hughes hit another. For the first time since a stretch of games where the Orange didn’t need its best play to get by, SU played fast, crisp and aggressive. Its defense made stops.

Notre Dame clawed back but never fully took the game away from SU. With the Orange down by two points, Dolezaj looked to a cutting Hughes but fired the pass far to his left. Hughes stumbled as he spied the ball rolling out of his reach and waved his arms in frustration at Dolezaj. Boeheim emerged from the bench and a discouraged Dolezaj met his eyes with a sign of encouragement, urging him to calm down and avoid mistakes at the expense of dwindling momentum and heightened speed.

Syracuse limited mistakes, but Notre Dame still jumped ahead. John Mooney continued to dominate the inside and Buddy said the Orange were stretched defensively by four capable outside shooters. The deficit grew to eight points, until the Orange once again entered another gear. Buddy hit a 3-pointer and Hughes, again, provided the equalizer to cap SU’s second 8-0 run of the game. Notre Dame hit a 3-pointer to follow, and then Buddy answered with another. 

In a play that could have allowed Notre Dame the opportunity to take control, Notre Dame’s Mooney gathered a miss and put in a shot that regained the lead. Hubb peered down, barked and stepped over Girard, whose momentum from the previous play brought him to the floor. Girard shot up. Marek Dolezaj rushed over, and Girard darted his head away. He sneered.

“Right there got me feeling a little bit,” Girard said.

The play ended in a technical foul, and a noticeably red Girard stepped to the line. The freshman made them with ease to put Syracuse up one, but with a tension on his face, a calm wish of vengeance. The freshman had done his job all game, to not make mistakes, to provide a steady hand at the lead guard for the Orange. Not anymore. This time he went for it all.

“Somebody usually challenges me or any competitor, you kind of step your game up a little bit,” Girard said.

The game was back-and-forth the rest of the way. For a stretch, it looked like it would be SU. Girard rose up for a 3-pointer with the game knotted at 84, and the crowd gasped. The defensive breakdowns, hot-shooting and second chance misses were behind the Orange. One more play, one more basket could shift the paradigm. 

Girard’s shot rimmed out and Notre Dame finished it on the other end. A stop on the other end forced the Orange to foul — no longer in control of the game. And quickly losing control of their season.

Published on January 4, 2020 at 6:28 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary