SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Twelve chairs lay strewn across the floor of Purcell Pavilion, uprooted from the Notre Dame bench. Their occupants, the Fighting Irish coaches and players, were busy soaking in the once-in-a-lifetime moment that comes seconds after beating the No. 1 team in the country.

Thirty minutes earlier, that same spot on the floor played host to a moment which captured perfectly the polarity of emotion during Saturday’s upset.

Following a fadeaway 3-pointer from Notre Dame’s Scott Martin with 14:15 remaining in the second half, Brandon Triche found himself surrounded by an explosive celebration from the Irish bench. The momentum from his attempt to close on the shooter carried him out of bounds, just short of those 12 chairs then neatly aligned to the left of the scorer’s table.

Triche turned back just in time to see Martin’s shot fall softly through the net to give the Fighting Irish an insurmountable 17-point lead. All around him, the Notre Dame players shot out of their seats unable to control their excitement.

Triche’s face fell with the ball, and a deep exhale followed.

‘You want to get stops,’ Triche said. ‘Playing hard and when a guy makes a shot, it’s tough. So just letting out a little bit of frustration.’

And as the final few seconds melted off the clock, those chairs were upturned as thousands of green-clad fans stormed the court in celebration of Notre Dame’s 67-58 win over top-ranked and previously undefeated Syracuse (20-1, 7-1 Big East). The Fighting Irish dictated tempo with a superbly efficient offensive performance that frustrated the Orange throughout the game. ND (12-8, 4-3) shot 50 percent from the field and from beyond the arc to earn its sixth consecutive win over a No. 1 team in the Joyce Center, this time in front of a raucous crowd of 9,149.

The surprising proficiency of Notre Dame from beyond the 3-point line set the tone of the game in the opening minutes. Though the Irish entered Saturday’s game 13th-best in the Big East from long range, they left Purcell Pavilion having connected on 50 percent of their attempts.

Pat Connaughton’s 3 from the right wing opened the scoring 30 seconds into the game, initiating an eruption of white confetti from the student section. Fifty seconds later, Eric Atkins drilled a triple from the left corner, to which a sea of yellow signs was raised in celebration.

The flying start stole the momentum immediately.

‘Notre Dame came out right from the beginning, and I thought they really moved the ball well,’ head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘They got some good looks early and knocked them down. And we just got in a hole that we really couldn’t get out of.’

It set in motion a dominating first half in which the Irish led by as many as 18 points courtesy of six 3-pointers.

Using primarily a burn offense — holding the ball until there were 10 seconds left on the shot clock before attacking — Notre Dame found ways to create open looks against the Syracuse 2-3 zone.

And fittingly, penetration by Jerian Grant with six seconds left on the shot clock produced a wide-open 3 for Alex Dragicevich to put Notre Dame ahead 35-17 with its final points of the half. The Fighting Irish led 35-23 at the break.

‘Every possession they wanted to go under 10,’ Scoop Jardine said. ‘They were only living and dying with one shot.’

In this case, living.

The hot shooting of the first half was coupled with an overpowering physical performance by Notre Dame forward Jack Cooley in the second. Syracuse was without starting center Fab Melo, who did not travel to South Bend due to what ESPN has reported is an unresolved academic issue, and Cooley took advantage.

He overpowered the smaller Baye Keita, C.J. Fair and Rakeem Christmas to the tune of 17 points and 10 rebounds. On one possession, he backed Fair down on the right block and knocked him to the floor for an easy layup. On another, he viciously dunked the ball over the outstretched arms of Keita, high-stepping down court and screaming at the SU sophomore center in exhilaration.

‘Cooley, he held it down for a lot of rebounds,’ Fair said. ‘He’s a big body out there. It’s hard to you can’t out-muscle him. And he always had good position.’

The dunk over Keita gave Notre Dame a 52-42 lead with 5:17 to go and brought the crowd to a deafening roar, setting the stage for the party to come.

It was a celebration that began with less than a minute remaining as fans crept down from the upper level, inching ever closer to the upset.

It was a celebration that ended the Orange’s perfect season emphatically and without question.

And it was a celebration, according to Jardine, well deserved for the Irish.

‘I’ve been on that side of the court, where you win a big game like they did tonight,’ Jardine said. ‘They should celebrate.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu 

Published on January 21, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13