SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Notre Dame's Troy Murphy made Syracuse
pay for its poor shooting.
|  | | Notre Dame Troy Murphy, right, goes up against Billy Celuck for two of his 34 points. |
Murphy scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half, taking
control on the inside and making 16 of 19 free throws, to lead
Notre Dame to a 74-60 victory over Syracuse on Tuesday
night.
"In the second half, we didn't do anything with Murphy,"
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We have to keep him from getting
the ball in the lane and we didn't do it."
The Irish repeatedly went inside to Murphy in the second half.
Despite getting pounded by Syracuse (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today; No. 11 Associated Press), Murphy made six of 10 shots and
shot 10-for-13 from the free throw line in the second half. Murphy
also had 16 rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.
"Troy is a tough player. He's hard to handle, plus he has the
refs and the court advantage, and that doesn't help at all,"
Syracuse center Billy Celuck said. "He's tough down low. He just
racks up his points and keeps going at you. Sometimes you block him
twice in a row and he just comes back at you."
Boeheim blamed the Orangemen for Murphy's outburst.
"We knew where he was and our two young guys didn't do what
they needed to do."
Murphy, who scored a career-low five points against Syracuse as
a freshman and had an 0-5 record against the Orangemen, said the
victory was gratifying.
"Syracuse is a team I've never played well against," Murphy
said. "I still remember the feeling of Elvir Ovcina talking junk
to me going off the floor."
The victory was the eighth in a row at home for the Irish and
marked the first time Notre Dame (12-5, 4-2 Big East) has won
three consecutive Big East games in a season since February 1997.
Syracuse (15-3, 4-2), which shot a season-low 36.9 percent, lost
its second game in three days.
"We have not shot well for two games," Boeheim said.
Boeheim kept the Syracuse locker room closed to the media for
more than 45 minutes after the game. Players said he just stressed
the need to play better.
"He was just talking to us about how things like this happen
every year and what happens from now on will decide what kind of
team we are," Preston Shumpert said.
The Orangemen played sloppily from the start, turning the ball
over on their first three possessions. Syracuse had 14 turnovers in
the first half and 21 in the game.
"We were coming off a hard loss to Seton Hall and we lost a
little focus in the beginning," Celuck said. "Once we started
playing a little better on defense, we couldn't really make any
shots. It was tough."
The Irish shot 26-for-31 from the free-throw line. The Orangemen
shot 4-for-9.
Matt Carroll added 13 points for Notre Dame. Shumpert led
Syracuse with 25 points and three steals and DeShaun Williams and
Celuck each had 10 points.
Syracuse closed to 42-38 when Shumpert hit a 3-pointer with
14:38 to go. But Carroll responded with a 3-pointer 21 seconds
later to trigger a 14-5 spurt that gave the Irish a 13-point lead.
The Orangemen cut their deficit to nine after Williams hit a
3-pointer and added a free throw 39 seconds later.
The Irish countered with a 24-2 run that put the game away.
Murphy scored eight points in the stretch.
"We worked so hard to get back into it we didn't have anything
left," Shumpert said.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Syracuse Clubhouse
Notre Dame Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Troy Murphy's slam on a Notre Dame fast break ruins Syracuse's chances of a comeback.
avi: 636 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Notre Dame's Ryan Humphrey gets a big block on Billy Celuck.
avi: 774 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Deshaun Williams finds Damone Brown under the boards for the basket and foul.
avi: 908 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
A strong second effort by Troy Murphy nets Notre Dame two points early on.
avi: 1060 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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