The Orange (14-8, 4-5 Atlantic Coast) used a balanced scoring attack — Trevor Cooney tied a game-high with 22 and three other SU players finished with 15 — and strong low-post defense to upend UND. Notre Dame was noticeably missing Demetrius Jackson, who is working back from a hamstring injury, and couldn’t keep up with Syracuse despite hitting 10 3s and shooting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc.

Here’s what we learned about the Orange in its fourth win over a ranked opponent on the season.

1. Maybe Syracuse can defend the post

After Syracuse lost to then-No. 13 Virginia on Sunday, head coach Jim Boeheim was highly critical of his frontcourt’s ability to defend down low.

“We cannot play defense inside, I think that’s pretty painfully obvious by now. Guys that average five points a game get 18, 19, 20 against us,” Boeheim said after the Cavaliers scored 30 points in the paint, 16 of which came from power forward Anthony Gill. “Our perimeter defense has been pretty good this year, our inside defense is non-existent.”

Then the Orange, if only temporarily, flipped that script against the Fighting Irish. Boeheim called Zach Auguste one of the best inside scorers in the ACC and Bonzi Colson scored 31 against Duke on Jan. 16 and averaged 20.6 points in the three games heading into Thursday. But SU, with Tyler Lydon mostly manning the middle but Dajuan Coleman also chipping in, held UND to 24 points in the paint while Syracuse scored 30.

Auguste finished with eight, Colson with nine and Boeheim was moderately pleased with the effort.

“Well we have to try and keep it out of there and when they get it we have to get somebody on him, we’ve been letting guys get it in there and just turn and make layups practically,” Boeheim said. “… We still have a lot of work to do, I think. Hopefully we’ll get better. We need to get better.”

2. The zone isn’t kind to inexperienced point guards, even if they are really good players

Coming into the game, Notre Dame’s 9.2 turnovers per game ranked as the fewest in the country. But that was mostly with Jackson, who injured his hamstring in the Fighting Irish’s in over Boston College on Saturday.

Without him, UND was far less careful with the ball and committed nine first-half turnovers while the Orange went on a 23-1 run and ultimately built an insurmountable 17-point halftime lead. Steve Vasturia, a highly talented shooting guard who assumed most of Jackson’s ball-handling duties, committed a game-high four turnovers. Freshman guard Rex Pflueger, Jackson’s replacement in the starting lineup, committed three.

A lot of Notre Dame’s turnovers came after SU trapped in the corners. Otherwise, the zone did a good job of clogging driving lanes and stripping Fighting Irish guards as they navigated toward the rim. SU finished with 16 points off turnovers, while UND scored just eight.

“What really hurt us in the first half was we turned it over nine times,” UND head coach Mike Brey said. “We lead the country in least amount of turnovers at nine, and we had nine in the first half and that’s just too deep a hole.”

3. Tyler Lydon isn’t the key to Syracuse’s offense, but may hold the key to its potential

SU’s offense is capable of excelling without Lydon’s production and aggressive, which has been evident throughout its ACC schedule.

But when the 6-foot-8 forward is stretching the floor and forcing defenders to run out to defend his jump shot, the Orange offense becomes capable of reaching a whole different level. Lydon scored 13 first-half points and was a key part of Syracuse’s 23-1 run after Notre Dame seized a 5-0 lead. By hitting shots early he drew the defense’s attention and, on one play, through a crisp cross-court from the block that allowed Trevor Cooney to can a wide-open 3.

Lydon’s numbers remain impossible to predict, especially after he scored two points on one shot, a missed 3, in the loss to Virginia. But the Orange’s 44 first-half points was the third most its scored before halftime this season, and it’s no coincidence that Lydon was right in the middle of it. His two 3s right before the break were the punctuation mark of SU’s dominant frame.

“Most teams are guarding him but they didn’t guard him,” Boeheim said of Lydon. “And it was pretty much just like the Bahamas. He got wide-open looks and he can make those shots. When they’re given he’s got to take them. I don’t think he’ll have them too many times.”

Published on January 28, 2016 at 11:05 pm