B.J. Johnson finally found his shooting touch -- and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Syracuse Orange.
With some of Syracuse's usual offensive options held in check, Johnson led all scorers with 19 points and the Orange beat No. 9/8 Notre Dame, 66-60, on the road on Tuesday night. Syracuse improved to 18-10 on the season and 9-6 in ACC play.
Johnson lifted his team to its second top-12 win in a week on a night when many of his teammates sputtered or faced foul trouble.
Rakeem Christmas scored 14 points until fouling out with five minutes and 18 seconds left in the game. Neither Tyler Roberson or Kaleb Joseph hit a field goal and Michael Gbinije struggled when he wasn't at the free throw line. Trevor Cooney was kept quiet for most of the night by back problems and aggressive perimeter defense.
But Johnson matched his season-high in scoring and the Irish shot just 35 percent from the field in a loss that snapped their three game winning streak. Notre Dame came into the game second in Division I in field goal percentage (51.3), but didn't get a single field goal from leading scorer, Jerian Grant, until the second half. Before falling to the Orange, Notre Dame hadn't lost a home game since Jan. 10, when it lost by a score of 62-56 to the third-ranked Virginia Cavaliers.
Johnson made 7-of-13 shots from the field, converted all three of his free throw attempts on chipped in six rebounds. His dunk with 30 seconds left in the game sealed a Syracuse win that was on the ropes for the last few minutes. The Irish chipped away at the Orange's lead, which had grown to double-digits throughout the game. Pat Connaughton hit a timely 3-pointer with 43 seconds left for the Irish, who went 2-17 as a team from behind-the-arc before he connected from the top of the key. Then Grant hit a pair of free throws, cutting Syracuse's advantage to just three.
Though they threatened that lead, they were never able to get it back. Gbinije escaped their fullcourt press and found Johnson in stride for a highlight reel dunk and a foul for the old fashioned 3-point play.
The Orange is in the midst of a six game stretch when it faces five ranked teams, including four in the top ten. Next up for Syracuse is No. 4 Duke, who escaped the Carrier Dome with an 80-72 victory back on Feb. 14.