SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame got off to a great start in the second half against Syracuse. It didn't last long.

After making four of their first five shots after halftime, the Irish were held to three field goals over the next 16 minutes as the seventh-ranked Orange took control in a 70-61 victory Monday night, making Jim Boeheim the first coach to get 300 Big East wins.

"On a night when we really struggled on offense, I thought our defense was tremendous, especially down the stretch," Boeheim said. "The defense was really the difference."

Notre Dame (10-3, 2-1) was 0-for-7 from the field with one turnover during Syracuse's decisive 14-0 run.

The Irish led 57-51 before Josh Pace scored six points during the second-half spurt as Syracuse repeatedly scored inside. Pace, who finished with 16 points, started it with a 10-foot jumper and Hakim Warrick, who was sitting with four fouls when the run began, added four of his 12 points during the surge, including a dunk on an alley-oop pass from Billy Edelin.

Gerry McNamara had 22 points to lead the Orange, but agreed with his coach that defense was the key.

"They are a great shooting team, so for us to fight them in the zone was really important," said McNamara, who sealed the victory with a 3-pointer with 65 seconds left.

It was the ninth straight win for the Orange (16-1, 3-0) in their first game this season outside the state of New York. Boeheim was upset that so much was made about that, saying a trip to New York City, where the Orange went twice, was as much of a road trip as some other teams played.

"The best teams are going to show up in the end of the season. It's foolish to go out and play an impossible schedule," he said.

It was the fourth straight win at Notre Dame for Syracuse, which had 11 steals, including seven by Edelin.

The loss ended Notre Dame's winning streak at six and prevented the Irish from going 3-0 in the league for the first time.

"We didn't play good. I think that's what it comes down to," said Chris Thomas, who was 1-of-14 from the field and had five points. "We didn't do what we were capable of on the offensive end."

Boeheim has a 300-161 record in his 26th season in the conference. John Thompson, who coached at Georgetown for 20 seasons, is second on the career list with 231 wins. Jim Calhoun, in his 19th season at Connecticut, is second among active coaches with 221.

Boeheim downplayed the milestone victory.

"That just means you've been around in this league for a long time," he said.

Taj Gray scored 23 points and Lawrence McKenzie added 18 for the Sooners (12-2), who beat the defending national champions for the third time in four seasons.Marcus Williams had 16 points to lead Connecticut (9-3), while Charlie Villanueva added 13 points and 14 rebounds.Connecticut, which