Shrewsberry scores 25 and Notre Dame holds off Syracuse 69-64 in ACC opener for both

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Braeden Shrewsberry matched his career-high with 25 points, J.R. Konieczny and Tae Davis scored 15 each and Notre Dame edged Syracuse 69-64 on Saturday in the ACC opener for both teams.

Notre Dame's four-point halftime lead held up until a layup by Donnie Freeman gave Syracuse its first lead of the game, 34-33, with 16 1/2 minutes remaining. Shrewsberry then responded with two 3-pointers for the Fighting Irish.

Syracuse went on to take the lead three more times in the second half, but each time the Fighting Irish either tied the score or regained the lead on their next possession. Notre Dame took the lead for good at 63-60 with 3 1/2 minutes to go when Shrewsberry buried his fifth 3-pointer of the game. His sixth 3-pointer gave Notre Dame a 67-62 lead with a little less than 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

Notre Dame’s biggest lead of the second half was five points and Syracuse twice led by two.

Freeman had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Syracuse (4-4) and Jyare Davis also scored 20 points.

The Fighting Irish (5-5) never trailed in the first half and their largest lead was eight points. Konieczny led Notre Dame with 13 points in the half and he, Shrewsberry and Davis combined to score 29 points. For the game, they combined for 55 of Notre Dame's 69 points.

Notre Dame snapped a four-game losing streak that coincided with a knee injury suffered by Markus Burton. At the time of the injury he was the only player in Division I who was averaging more than 20 points, five assists and five rebounds per game.

Syracuse leads the head-to-head series 34-23.