SOUTH BEND, Ind. — C.J. Fair cursed as he picked himself up off the floor. Rubbing the back of his head, the 203-pound Syracuse forward couldn’t withstand the blow from the 248-pound Jack Cooley.

Cooley had caught the ball on the right block, backed into Fair — knocking him to the floor of the Joyce Center — and laid the ball in easily to give Notre Dame a 12-point lead in the second half.

Later, Fair was left rubbing his chin following an offensive foul against Cooley.

‘Jack was unbelievable,’ Notre Dame guard Pat Connaughton said. ‘He does so much stuff that doesn’t show up in the statistics. He beats guys up in the paint and really presents a huge presence in the middle.’

The 45-pound mismatch was one aspect the Fighting Irish exploited on Saturday en route to a 67-58 win over No. 1 Syracuse in the Joyce Center. The Orange was without starting center Fab Melo, who did not make the trip to South Bend. ESPN is reporting that Melo has an unresolved academic issue.

Without him, Syracuse struggled with Cooley’s size and strength. Fair, Baye Keita and Rakeem Christmas, three of the main players SU relied on to fill Melo’s void, combined for 10 points and 10 rebounds. Cooley tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds by himself.

‘I don’t talk about people that aren’t here,’ Boeheim said when asked about Melo after the game. ‘We got the guys we have and the guys we have played, and we didn’t do a good enough job inside. They hurt us inside.’

The Orange struggled mightily to rebound against the Fighting Irish. Not a single SU player hauled in more than five rebounds. Four players had six or more rebounds for Notre Dame.

Melo is also out for Monday’s game against Cincinnati, according to a statement issued by Syracuse athletic communications.

After the game, Jardine said the poor rebounding effort hurt the Orange offensively. It didn’t allow SU to get out in transition because defensive rebounds became a battle. Offensively, Syracuse managed just four second-chance points.

‘I can’t even tell you, man. They were beasts on the boards,’ Jardine said. ‘… That’s where we missed Fab. A guy like Cooley who was pushing those guys around, it’s hard. But we all have to rebound better.’

Joyce Center a death trap for No. 1 teams

On the eve of Notre Dame’s matchup with No. 1 Syracuse, head coach Mike Brey showed his players a video. A glimpse into the past and, it is hoped, the future as well.

The Irish watched a tape of past Notre Dame teams knocking off top-ranked opponents in the Joyce Center. And that, according to guard Eric Atkins, helped ND pull off the 67-58 upset on Saturday.

‘Coach (Brey) stressed that it can be done,’ Atkins said after the win. ‘We knew we had to believe, and we were able to get it done tonight.’

The win over the Orange on Saturday marked the sixth consecutive time Notre Dame has beaten No. 1 at the Joyce Center. Syracuse joined the ranks of North Carolina, DePaul, Marquette, San Francisco and UCLA in an undesirable group of top teams to walk out of South Bend empty-handed.

The last time the Irish lost to a No. 1 team at home was back in 1973 against UCLA. Since then: six-for-six.

‘I can’t even describe this right now,’ forward Jack Cooley said. ‘They were 20-0. I can’t put into words how amazing this is.’

After the game, Brey said the crowd of 9,149 on hand for Saturday’s upset created an environment that matched any he has seen at the Joyce Center in his 12 years as head coach. Syracuse was harassed from start to finish by the energetic crowd.

When the final buzzer sounded, thousands rushed the court to mob the Notre Dame players. And though Brey was escorted quickly off the court by police, he too recognized how special the moment was.

‘That was awesome,’ Brey said. ‘I don’t remember the last time we rushed the court, but there are a couple memories of that. They deserved it. They were great. They helped us believe.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu 

Published on January 21, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13