McAlarney Shoots Irish Past Syracuse

24th Feb 2008

Notre Dame 94
Syracuse 87

Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish defeated Syracuse today in a high scoring game. Notre Dame shot extremely well the entire game but the Orangemen didn’t allow them to ever completely pull away. Jim Boeheim’s team is going to have to win some key games after this loss for a chance to make the NCAA tournament, let alone the Big East tournament. They are now 19-8 (7-8) on the season with Pittsburgh up next. The Irish are now in a very good position with their 21-5 (11-3) record, placing them at the number three spot in the Big East. With Louisville up next, they could climb to second in the conference with a win, possibly even first if Georgetown loses to St. Johns.

Kyle McAlarney was the star today scoring 30 points for his second best game this year. He made history from behind the arc, hitting 9 of 11 threes. The 9 three-pointers puts Kyle at the top of the Notre Dame list for most threes in a single game. He also distributed the ball well with 4 assists and managed to grab 3 rebounds for his team. McAlarney completed a four point play and was just unbelievable all afternoon. Another Big East Player of the Week could be coming his way after this performance.

Rob Kurz had a decent game with 15 points while having to get stitches over his eye in the second half. He made a couple threes and got to the line a lot, making 7 of 10 free-throws. He only had two rebounds the entire game as Syracuse dominated the glass. As a team, Notre Dame only grabbed 32 boards compared to Syracuse’s 47. The Irish rarely ever get out-rebounded.

Arinze Onuaku kept Luke Harangody out of the game on the offensive side of the ball for most of the afternoon. However, he was able to record another double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. He scored 7 points in the first half and not much more until late in the game. He struggled from the free-throw line, hitting only 2 of his 5 attempts, but it was enough in the end. It wasn’t his worse game, but certainly not his best.

Tory Jackson didn’t shoot much all game but finished with 10 points, 5 of which were from the free-throw line. He made some late foul shots to keep the Irish ahead with a comfortable lead. With only two assists and two rebounds, he wasn’t able to get his third double-double in a row, but he can’t play that well every game. Tory did what was needed for the team and Notre Dame got another win.

The other contributors for the Irish were Ryan Ayers with 10 points, Jonathan Peoples with 7, Zach Hillesland had 6, and Luke Zeller with 2. Jonathan Peoples played very well in only 11 minutes of time. He made all three of his shots including a basket from beyond the arc. Also, promising Freshman Tyrone Nash saw approximately 1.7 seconds of playing time right before the end of the first half.

Syracuse’s top performers were Paul Harris with 22 points, Arinze Onuaku with 19, and freshman Jonny Flynn had 17. The Irish were able to hold the Orangemen’s top scorer on the year, Donte Greene, to 5 points. The freshman eventually fouled out and only made 2 of his 7 shot attempts. Arinze Onuaku also fouled out.

Notre Dame made 54.7% of their shots while Syracuse made 40.2%. The Irish made 14 of their 25 threes (56.0%) as the Orangemen only hit 6 of their 20 attempts (30.0%).

This win makes it 36 straight in South Bend for Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish. They have one home game left which is against St. John’s, but they need to focus on their next opponent, Louisville. The Cardinals barely escaped Pittsburgh today but are going to be real tough to beat on Thursday. I’ll have a preview for the game at some point this week and as always, Go Irish!

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