SPORTS
TUESDAY
february 5, 2013
PAGE 16
the daily orange
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andrew renneisen | staff photographer BRANDON TRICHE, BAYE MOUSSA KEITA AND C.J. FAIR swarm ND forward Jack Cooley in Syracuse’s win Monday. SU held the Big East’s leading rebounder to just 10 points.
SU rides stifling 2nd-half defensive performance to win against Notre Dame, snapping 2-game skid
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By Ryne Gery
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STAFF WRITER
erami Grant wore a wide smile in front of his locker. Grant registered a career-high scoring effort and bested his older brother in Syracuse’s win against Notre Dame on Monday night. But it was the Orange’s dominant defensive effort, fueled by a message from head coach Jim Boeheim, that prompted the forward to flash a satisfied grin. “Coach definitely got on us on the defensive end,” Grant said,
smiling. “He made sure that we didn’t let them get a lot of backdoors or easy layups, so I felt like we listened to that and that’s why we won.” Syracuse’s brilliant defensive performance resulted in a decisive 63-47 victory against the Irish on Monday. The task was twofold – contain arguably the best big man in the Big East in Jack Cooley, and stay out on No. 25 Notre Dame’s (18-5, 6-4 Big East) 3-point shooters. Syracuse’s zone took care of both, and carried the No. 9 Orange (19-3, 7-2) to a muchneeded victory after two straight
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I think scoring in the 50-60 range is a little bit uncomfortable for us, but the way our defense is playing, we’re going to be in every game.”
Brandon Triche SU G
conference losses. Cooley finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, but had to earn every point inside. Notre Dame shot just 6-for-20 beyond the arc, including 2-for-11 in the second half when Syracuse blew the game open. “I thought we did a pretty good job with Cooley, and then we got to their 3-point shooters,” Boeheim said, “so I thought defensively we played just as good a game as we can want to play.” The challenge started with limiting the 6-foot-9, 246-pound Cooley.
AT A GLANCE For more basketball coverage see page 12.
SEE NOTRE DAME PAGE 14
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Christmas bests Cooley in paint in career performance By Michael Cohen STAFF WRITER
It took 90 seconds and two offensive possessions for Rakeem Christmas to score more points Monday than he did during the weekend against Pittsburgh. He only needed one attempt, one isolation play on the right block and one right-handed shot that fell softly through the net. Those two points were two more than he managed in 21 minutes in Saturday’s loss to the Panthers, and
TWEET OF THE DAY @GoodmanCBS
If Jerami Grant keeps coming and James Southerland returns, Syracuse could be as tough an out as anyone. Two big IF’s, though
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they kickstarted what turned out be a game that head coach Jim Boeheim called the best of Christmas’ career. “I think we both knew that I needed to get him the ball more so he could have a chance to be a presence down low,” sophomore point guard Michael Carter-Williams said. “And he was.” One year removed from being bludgeoned by Notre Dame’s Jack Cooley on the road in South Bend, Ind., Christmas redeemed himself
SEE CHRISTMAS PAGE 15
STAT OF THE DAY Syracuse’s rebounding
margin in its last three games against Villanova, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, respectively.