Just one night after sports fans saw two brothers battle it out as opposing head coaches at the Super Bowl, the Grant brothers showed their competitive edge on Jim Boeheim Court. Syracuse Orange freshman forward Jeremi Grant pulled off a season high 14 points in a 63-47 Syracuse win over Notre Dame, while his brother Jerian led the Irish with 15 points in a losing cause.
"I feel like I did fine," said Jeremi Grant after the game about playing against his brother, "I probably won it. We won the game, so that's all that matters."
"He was really good," said Orange Head Caoch Jim Boeheim of Jeremi's play, "He's played really well. Pittsburgh was a little bit more physical than what he was ready for, but the other games he's played, he's played extremely well."
"Jerami is becoming a great player," says Orange junior forward C.J. Fair, "He wasn't getting any consistent minutes in the beginning, but now he is and he's taken advantage of it and he's doing well."
Fair led the way with18 points and 10 rebounds, as the Orange snapped a two game losing streak and won on a day that saw them drop to # 9 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls.
Syracuse, who improves to 19-3 and 7-2 in the Big East, had lost consecutive games on the road against Villanova and Pittsburgh, but Monday's win allowed Syracuse to extend their school record for consecutive home wins to 36 games, the longest active streak in Division I basketball.
"This was a big win," said Boeheim, "Obviously Notre Dame beat us last year out there and when you lose two in a row in this league you get nervous - everybody does. This was a really good bounce-back win for us."
The Orange will host St. John's next on Sunday.
