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No. 15 Notre Dame routs Syracuse beind V.J. Beachem's 30

By The Sports Xchange

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame senior swingman V.J. Beachem scored a career-high 30 points as the No. 15 Fighting Irish rolled past Syracuse 84-66 on Saturday at Purcell Pavilion.

Beachem tied his previous career best of 22 points on a tough drive and finish with 12 minutes remaining. He was in attack mode nearly from the jump, and the rest of the Irish followed that winning lead.

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"It just felt good," Beachem said. "All the guys were finding me. It didn't hurt that we were playing against the (2-3) zone, too."

Notre Dame shot 49.2 percent from the floor, including 42.3 percent from 3-point range.

For one of the few times in recent matchups, the Irish consistently attacked the zone, moved the ball with a purpose and kept the Orange on their defensive heels.

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"The way we play offensively, we felt we'd be fine against it," Beachem said. "It was a great day for us shooting the ball and driving the ball."

After winning its first five Atlantic Coast Conference games by a combined 23 points, Notre Dame (17-3, 6-1 in the ACC) never trailed and led by as many as 22 points.

Irish coach Mike Brey kept looking at the scoreboard in the second half waiting for it to get back to game situations. Instead, Notre Dame didn't allow Syracuse to get any closer than 11 points the final 12 minutes.

"It was kind of nice to have a little bit of a cushion," Brey said.

Tyler Lydon led Syracuse (11-9, 3-4) with 24 points. Freshman guard Tyus Battle added 17 and Andrew White III added 16. That was the good news for the Orange.

The bad? The other five players who saw minutes Saturday combined for nine points on 4-of-15 shooting.

That sat none too well with veteran coach Jim Boeheim.

"We can't win with three guys," Boeheim said. "I can't even begin to describe how disappointed I am in three guys."

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Those three probably were John Gillon, Taurean Thompson and Tyler Roberson, who all played at least nine minutes but did not score.

In addition to Beachem's big day, Bonzie Colson added his ACC-best 12th double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Guard Matt Farrell added 15 points and nine assists, and steady senior Steve Vasturia scored 11.

"They're a tremendous team," Boeheim said of the Irish.

After turning the ball over a season-high 18 times Wednesday against Florida State, Notre Dame had only eight turnovers with 20 assists.

Notre Dame had lost four straight and seven of eight to Syracuse. The last time the Irish beat the Orange was exactly five years earlier -- Jan. 21, 2012. Syracuse came to town that night ranked No. 1.

NOTES:

-- Syracuse is 0-4 on the road in league play, with all four losses by double digits. The Orange are 0-5 on the road overall this season.

-- The Irish were the top foul shooting team in the country at 82.4, percent but only third in ACC games at 72.6. They then went 15 for 16 (93.8 percent).

-- Following three straight road games, Notre Dame opened a stretch Saturday of five of seven at home.

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-- Irish G Steve Vasturia made his 101st consecutive start Saturday. He is one of four players in program history (Pat Connaughton, Pat Garrity and Chris Thomas) with 100 consecutive starts.

-- The 2016 World Series trophy was brought to midcourt at the first television timeout. South Bend is a Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

-- The game was the second straight sellout (and second this season) for Notre Dame.

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