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Syracuse routs Notre Dame in bounce-back performance

Jan 17, 2009 - 10:35 PM SYRACUSE, New York (Ticker) -- A return to the Carrier Dome provided the perfect remedy for road-weary Syracuse.

Arinze Onuaku scored 19 points Saturday afternoon as the eighth-ranked Orange used a late run to rout No. 13 Notre Dame, 93-74, in a Big East Conference showdown.

Onuaku also grabbed eight rebounds and added four blocks while being matched up against Notre Dame's Luke Harangody, the Big East's leading scorer.

"I just tried to stay in front of him and make him take tough shots over me," Onuaku said of Harangody, who scored 25 points but shot just 9-of-28 from the floor. "Just a hand in the face will discourage his shot."

Jonny Flynn added 17 points and nine assists for Syracuse (17-2, 5-1 Big East), which had played three of its previous four games on the road.

After rolling to a 16-point win at Rutgers last Saturday, the Orange were blown out in Wednesday's 88-74 loss at Georgetown.

But three days later, Syracuse received a balanced scoring effort to hold off the Fighting Irish, who have experienced their own road woes this season.

"You have to bounce back in this league," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. "We had a very poor, poor first half against Georgetown on Wednesday and they capitalized on that by shooting the ball very well. But you have to bounce back."

"It was our first Big East loss and it was crucial for us," Onuaku added. "In a game like this, all we try to do is bounce back."

Syracuse reserve Eric Devendorf scored seven of his 16 points over the final 3:14 as the Orange closed the contest with a 15-2 run.

Paul Harris finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Rick Jackson added 14 points and 10 boards and Andy Rautins, who suffered a knee injury Wednesday against Georgetown, bounced back to score 10 points for the Orange.

"Notre Dame has been very difficult for us, so it was a tremendous win for our guys and everybody contributed," Boeheim said. "We had tremendous balance, and that was the difference in the game."

The 6-8 Harangody had fits against the 6-9 duo of Onuaku and Jackson, who harassed the conference's preseason Player of the Year into his worst shooting game of the season.

"I thought Ricky and Arinze did a tremendous job of making him take tough shots and not letting him get in close and where he had to take a hook shot over them," Boeheim said. "He's a tremendous offensive player but if he has to take 28 shots in order for him to get his points, then that's a good statistic for us."

Harangody did have a good day on the boards, grabbing 16 rebounds for Notre Dame (12-5, 3-3), which has lost its last three road games.

Notre Dame's Kyle McAlarney scored 24 points and shot 7-of-14 from 3-point range, but the rest of the Fighting Irish struggled from beyond the arc, going just 6-of-19.

McAlarney's 3-pointer drew Notre Dame within 78-72 with four minutes left. But Syracuse responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes, capped by Harris' reverse layup that gave the Orange an 85-72 lead with 1:51 remaining.