Judah Mintz scored 21 points and Syracuse pulled out an 88-85 win over Notre Dame on Saturday after nearly giving up a 29-point lead on “Jim Boeheim Day.” It looked like it would be a game-long party after Syracuse (18-10, 9-8 ACC) rolled to a 29-point lead late in the first half only to see Notre Dame (10-17, 5-11) rally behind freshmen Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry, who combined for 38 second-half points. Shrewsberry's sixth 3-pointer with two minutes remaining followed by another 3 from Julian Roper II a minute later got the Fighting Irish to 86-83.
The roster under new coach Micah Shrewsberry, hired away from Penn State in March, has the nation's third-lowest percentage of returning scorers, 1.6%. Then again, Notre Dame needed a change after going 11-21 last season and posting a school-worst 3-17 mark in ACC play. Shrewsberry's influence already is showing. Booth, Logan Imes and Shrewsberry's son, Braeden, all decommitted from Penn State and followed Shrewsberry to South Bend.