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ACC Basketball: Notre Dame blows out Syracuse in South Bend

By Mike Knapp

Dec 28, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey walks to the locker room at the end of the first half against the Saint Peter's Peacocks at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey walks to the locker room at the end of the first half against the Saint Peter's Peacocks at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /
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Notre Dame blows out Syracuse in an ACC basketball game in South Bend behind a dominant 30-point performance from V.J. Beachem.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish blew passed the Syracuse Orange with an 84-66 victory in South Bend. The Irish dominated from wire to wire, moving to 17-3 (6-1 in conference).

Related Story: Tar Heels' front court helps hold off BC

Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 12-4 lead before the first TV timeout and looked to be every bit of the top 15 team they currently are. The Orange were able to fight back, cutting the lead to four on multiple occasions, but the Irish and, more specifically, V.J. Beachem, proved to be too much.

Beachem went on his own personal 10-0 run midway through the first half to increase the Notre Dame lead to 12. Syracuse would keep fighting back behind strong play from Tyler Lydon, finding themselves down just nine at the half. But they were never able to put together multiple stops consecutively on the defensive end.

The second half began much like the first, with Notre Dame looking dominant out of the gate. They turned their nine-point lead into 16 by the under-16 timeout, and they would never see their lead go below double figures again as they eventually coasted to an 18-point victory.

As previously mentioned, the story for Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon was the superb play of their stud senior swingman Beachem. The 6’8″, versatile forward has gotten better every year he has been with the Irish, and the 2016-17 season has been no different.

Beachem finished the game with 30 points, including an efficient 12-of-22 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from three. He also did a great job of getting his home crowd into the game early with some of his signature emphatic finishes.

https://twitter.com/FightingIrish/status/822891797177372674

As impressive as the dunk was by Beachem, it is also worth mentioning the player who got the assist on the play: Matt Farrell. After averaging less than three points per contest last season, Farrell has been a revelation for the Irish this season as their starting floor general.

The junior guard is averaging more than 14 points per contest, while also leading Notre Dame with 5.5 assists per game. Farrell currently boasts an effective field goal percentage over 55 and an assist rate that is over 30 percent. Not many guards in the country are as efficient as he is in terms getting his own shot, as well as creating for others.

On the losing end of the early afternoon matchup, Syracuse continues to struggle and does not look anywhere close to being the ranked team that they were to start out the year. The Orange shot just over 40 percent while allowing Notre Dame to shoot close to 50 percent.

While shooting close to 40 percent is obviously problematic, that last stat is what has really plagued Syracuse all year. They don’t defend consistently. They have fallen outside the KenPom top 100 in defensive efficiency, and are allowing opponents to rebound an unbelievable 34 percent of their misses.

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The Orange continue to receive strong pay from Lydon and Andrew White III, but those are really the only two players who have consistently given Syracuse any sort of positive production. The ACC is undoubtedly the toughest conference in the country, and Jim Boeheim could find his team on the wrong side of .500 very soon if they do not turn things around in a hurry.

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