The Orange fought back from a 17-point deficit to get within nine at half, then finished the comeback late in a 77-69 win over Notre Dame.

Here is what to take away from SU’s third win in four games:

Syracuse finally climbed all the way out of an early hole, as Saturday’s game was the eighth time in 18 games they were down at least five points in points in the first six-plus minutes of play. It was also the first time the Orange came back to win the game, coming all the way back from 17 points down.

Adrian Autry has to figure out some way to get the SU players ready to go at opening tip. The team is limited offensively, but they have managed to win three of four in large part due to energy and effort. Autry needs to figure out how to get that from his roster at tip-off, not at a first half timeout when the team is flat.

After connecting on all ten of his foul shots against the Fighting Irish, Kyle Cuffe Jr. now has 29 made free throws on the season against 23 field goals. Cuffe has also made 24 of his last 28 free throws, good for an 85.7 percent clip and those 24 foul shots make up nearly half his 52 points in the last six games.

Elijah Moore finally snapped out of his shooting slump, displaying confidence and willingness to shoot. While he finished 3-of-8 from the field and just 1-of-6 from behind the arc, perhaps the best sign for Moore was after missing a couple 3’s, he gave up the ball, made a cut, then popped back out to the arc, motioning for the ball. Moore knocked down the 3-pointer while being fouled to a roaring response from the crowd for his first field goal in four weeks.

J.J. Starling is known for having a solid mid-range game, but he needs more discretion in his shot selection. The junior guard made just 1-of-7 shots between the 3-point arc and the restricted area. Five of his six missed attempts in the second half came in this mid-range.

The Orange have generally been successful in the rebounding department this season, but finished at a 43-34 deficit against Notre Dame. The second have numbers were not as bad, as SU was only down 23-20, but they did post a 36.0 percent offensive rebounding rate, generating nine extra chances. Unfortunately, they gave up a 38.9 percent rate to the Irish in that half.

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