Elijah Hughes scored 26 points and Joseph Girard III added 15 to boost Syracuse to a 84-82 victory against Notre Dame on Wednesday night in South Bend, Ind., helping the Orange secure their first four-game winning streak in Atlantic Coast Conference play since the 2016-17 season.
Syracuse (12-7, 5-3 ACC) led by as many as 13 points in the second half but endured a late scoring drought of 5:17 that saw the Fighting Irish reclaim the lead at 69-68 with 5:58 to go.
However, Notre Dame (11-7, 2-5) followed its charge by going more than five minutes without a field goal, and Syracuse went on a 10-1 run to go up by eight with 42 seconds left.
Two Irish 3-pointers in the final minute cut the deficit to 82-80 before Girard hit a pair of free throws with 9.5 seconds to go for a four-point gap. Notre Dame's T.J. Gibbs hit a layup as time expired.
John Mooney led Notre Dame with 21 points and 13 rebounds, registering a double-double for the 12th successive game to break the school record. Dane Goodwin (15 points), Gibbs (13) and Nate Laszewski (11) also finished in double figures for the Fighting Irish, who have lost three of four.
Bourama Sidibe added 12 points for Syracuse on 6-for-6 shooting, reaching double figures for just the third time this season and the first time since Dec. 28. Buddy Boeheim scored 10 points, and Girard grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Hughes, the leading scorer in the ACC, established an early tone by drilling a pair of long 3-pointers in the game's first 3:25. The second of those shots put the Orange on top 12-10 in the early going before Notre Dame responded with a personal 7-0 run from Mooney.
Moments later, another 7-0 run pushed the Notre Dame lead to 11 with 10:45 remaining in the half, but Syracuse answered again. Sparked by an early spurt from Quincy Gurrier, Syracuse scored 27 of the next 39 points to take a 46-42 lead into the break.
The Orange shot 50 percent in the first half compared to 45.5 percent for the Fighting Irish. Overall, Syracuse barely outshot Notre Dame, 47 percent to 45.6 percent.
Notre Dame edged Syracuse 88-87 in the teams' first meeting of the season on Jan. 4 at the Carrier Dome. The Fighting Irish have won three of the past five meetings.
--Field Level Media
