Notre Dame staggers into ACC opener vs. Syracuse

Notre Dame is hoping there is no place like home when it takes on Syracuse in both teams' Atlantic Coast Conference opener Saturday afternoon.

The Fighting Irish (4-5) haven't played in South Bend, Ind., since a stunning loss to Elon on Nov. 22. Notre Dame has dropped its last five games, including a 69-48 defeat at Georgia on Tuesday.

Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry hopes the fans will turn out for the game.

"It's good to be home. It's good for us to play at home. It's good to play in our own gym," Shrewsberry told WNDU. "I know we have to play better for people to come watch us, but we need you more than anything."

Markus Burton is unlikely to play as he continues to deal with a knee injury. He suffered an MCL sprain but is not expected to need surgery. Burton is the Irish's leading scorer at 18.2 points per game.

"His future is more important than winning one or two extra games," Shrewsberry said. "We care more about his future than anything else."

Braeden Shrewsberry is second on the Irish with 15.2 points per game and Tae Davis contributes 14.4 per game.

Syracuse (4-3) comes in looking to get back on track after a 96-70 loss at No. 3 Tennessee on Tuesday.

Orange coach Adrian Autry said it's important for his team to play better on the defensive end to get things rolling in the right direction.

"We got to defend," he said in a postgame press conference. "No matter what defense we try to play, whether it's man or it's zone, we have to defend. And it's five guys. It's not one guy. It's five guys. We have to defend as a team."

Syracuse is averaging 79.4 points per game but allowing 80.9. J.J. Starling leads the team with 19.8 points per game. Chris Bell is averaging 13.3 points while Donnie Freeman is averaging 11.7 points.

--Field Level Media