Joseph has 18, Syracuse over Irish 70-58

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Kris Joseph had 18 points, Scoop Jardine had 15 points and nine assists, and fifth-ranked Syracuse beat No. 15 Notre Dame 70-58 on Saturday.

The Orange (15-0, 2-0 Big East) broke open a tight game with a 17-3 run that started with a jumper from the top of the key by Joseph. That snapped a 44-44 tie with 13:02 left as the Irish (12-2, 1-1) began losing the ball too often.

After committing only four turnovers in the first half, the Irish had nine by the 11-minute mark in the second and the Orange capitalized. Syracuse scored 10 points on the break in the second half to pull away.

Freshman Dion Waiters converted a three-point play, Jardine hit a 3 on the wing off a pretty pass out from under the basket by Jackson, and James Southerland swished a 3 from the top of the key during the decisive spurt for a 61-47 lead with 7:48 left.

Jackson, who also had a career-high six blocks, and Southerland had 12 points.

Tim Abromaitis led Notre Dame with 15 points, Ben Hansbrough had 12, Scott Martin 10, and Carleton Scott nine.

The Irish, ranked second nationally in shooting (52.5 percent) entering the week, finished 23 of 54 (42.6 percent) and were 7 of 21 on 3-pointers against the long Syracuse zone. Notre Dame also finished with 15 turnovers, nearly five more than its average.

Notre Dame had won two of the last four in the Carrier Dome and, after upsetting No. 9 Georgetown on Wednesday was aiming to keep the mometum going. The Irish hadn't beaten a top-five team since a 75-70 triumph over No. 2 Connecticut on Jan. 5, 2000 at the Hartford Civic Center.

Jackson had only four points — all on free throws — and just two rebounds in the tight first half. The Orange's lone senior entered the game averaging 13.6 points and 12.2 rebounds, tops on the boards in the Big East and fourth nationally, and he turned it around in the second by going inside.

His two-handed slam with 15:43 left was his first basket of the game and tied it at 42-all. After Jardine's steal and layup and a jumper from the top of the key by Joseph, Jackson converted a feed from Waiters high off the glass over Scott and the Orange were off and running.

Martin's stepback jumper halted the run, and a layup on the third try by Abromaitis and a 3-pointer by Eric Atkins had the Irish back within 63-54 with 4:52 left. That was the last Notre Dame basket until Hansbrough's layup in the final minute.

Notre Dame held the biggest lead of the first half, 10-4 at 14:43 after consecutive 3s by Scott and Hansbrough.

Syracuse took the lead for the first time on two free throws by Jackson just over 8 minutes in, and after Southerland slammed home a miss by Jackson at 8:34, neither team led by more than two points the rest of the half.

Joseph's driving layup off the glass in the final minute gave Syracuse a 34-33 halftime lead.