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Syracuse’s two-game winning streak came to an end Tuesday as it fell 85-61 to Louisville. The defeat brought it back under .500 on the season and two games under .500 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Orange try to avoid another losing streak when they welcome Notre Dame to the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday.

This will be the second meeting between Syracuse and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish defeated the Orange 69-64 in their ACC opener on Dec. 7. In that meeting, SU was without J.J. Starling, while ND didn’t have point guard Markus Burton. Since then, Notre Dame has lost four of five conference games, with its only win coming to ACC bottom-feeder Boston College Tuesday.

Here’s how our beat writers feel Syracuse (8-9, 2-4 ACC) will fare against Notre Dame (8-9, 2-4 ACC) in their second meeting of the season:

Zak Wolf (15-2)
Twice is not nice
Syracuse 71, Notre Dame 80

Aiden and I were supposed to drive to South Bend in December to cover the game. Mother Nature had other ideas, and we ended up watching from his apartment. To be honest, it wasn’t that disappointing, considering how poorly Syracuse played. It scored just 64 points and didn’t hit a 3. Saturday, I expect more offense. Starling and Burton returning completely changes the dynamic for both teams.

Starling had a poor showing in SU’s loss to Louisville, recording a season-low in points (four) and shots (seven) while turning the ball over six times. It’s safe to say he won’t have a game like that for the rest of the season. Even so, I expect Notre Dame to get the better of Syracuse. The Fighting Irish are better than their record indicates, and the addition of Burton makes them infinitely more dangerous. In his four games since returning from injury, Burton is averaging 20 points per game on 39% shooting from 3.

As a team, Notre Dame is explosive from beyond the arc. This past Saturday against Duke, it went 14-of-24 from beyond the arc. If it shoots even remotely close to that against Syracuse, the Orange have no chance. Syracuse allowed Louisville to hit 12 triples Tuesday. Will we see another barrage from deep? I don’t think SU’s defense will be as porous, but Notre Dame will do enough to hand Syracuse its second straight defeat.

Aiden Stepansky (16-1)
I want to know where Lou Holtz is
Syracuse 74, Notre Dame 79

I vividly remember telling Justin on the drive home from Boston College how I’d pick this game. At some point in our five-hour ride, as I blared a mix of Billy Joel and Drake, I said, “If the Orange put up a fight against Louisville, I’d be inclined to pick SU to take down Notre Dame in their second matchup.”

Well, that didn’t happen. So this was an easy choice. While Syracuse impressed in its final eight minutes against Boston College, the momentum surely didn’t carry into the date with the Cardinals. SU was stifled in all aspects by Louisville, falling embarrassingly. Notre Dame will continue Syracuse’s steady decline.

As Zak noted, the return of Starling and Burton makes this matchup far more intriguing.
The Fighting Irish haven’t had the strongest start to conference play but have produced close performances in their losses, falling by just one to UNC and NC State. The combination of Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry will largely outplay Starling and Co., similar to Chucky Hepburn’s performance.

Most Notre Dame fans likely aren’t focused on its basketball team right now. Instead, many are probably preparing for a trip to Atlanta to watch the Fighting Irish take down Ohio State in football. I see ND fans getting some early celebrations against the Orange before the clash with the Buckeyes.

Justin Girshon (14-3)
Football schools
Syracuse 71, Notre Dame 75

Building off Aiden’s football point, Syracuse and Notre Dame are both football schools. As the Fighting Irish try to knock off the man Fran Brown should send cases of champagne to, SU’s basketball program has fans waiting desperately for football season.

It’s atypical for the Orange, who are heralded as a prestigious basketball school and have been an afterthought in football basically the entire 21st century. Currently, SU’s 2025 graduating class is set to become the first group of players not to witness an NCAA Tournament run since the 1972 class — a 53-year span.

Now, after its loss to Louisville, Syracuse is under .500 midway through January — a far stretch from what the “Orange Standard” is, whatever that may be. While the Fighting Irish are one of the numerous middle-of-the-pack teams in the ACC, I see them doing just enough on the road to get by SU.

As always, the 3-point battle will be crucial, and I see ND using deep-range success — whether from Burton or Shrewsberry — to boost its win. Meanwhile, the Cardinals showed a simple plan on how to stop the Orange: contain Starling and let anyone else beat you. If Starling gets back to how he was against GT and BC, Syracuse has a chance. If he doesn’t, it has none.

Published on January 15, 2025 at 9:07 pm