AP News -- T.J. Gibbs scored 18 points and his steal in the final minute set up Rex Pflueger's decisive layup with 2.6 seconds left as Notre Dame rallied to beat Syracuse 51-49 on Saturday, its fifth straight victory.

Tyus Battle had just tied the game for the Orange with a 3-pointer and a turnover by Martinas Geben gave Syracuse a great shot to win it. But Battle lost the ball to a swarming Gibbs to set up the winning basket and Frank Howard's desperation heave at the buzzer for the Orange was well short.

Pflueger had 12 points for Notre Dame, which scored 15 points off turnovers, none bigger than the last two.

Battle led Syracuse with 21 points, Howard had 10 and Oshae Brissett had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Irish (13-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) played without senior captains Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell. Colson had surgery Thursday for a broken left foot and is expected to miss eight weeks and Farrell sprained his left ankle too badly on Wednesday night against North Carolina State to play against the Orange. 

Syracuse (12-4, 1-2 ACC) was coming off a 73-67 loss at Wake Forest, where the Orange were outrebounded for the first time this season. The Irish continued that trend, outrebounding Syracuse 42-27, 21-8 on the offensive glass.

Down by nine at halftime, the Irish scored eight straight points in the first 2:41 of the second as they found their range. Pflueger hit a 3 from left wing, Gibbs followed with a jumper in the lane and D.J. Harvey finished the quick spurt with a wide-open 3 from the right corner.

Battle responded with a floater in the lane and Brissett hit a 3 at the shot-clock buzzer to boost the Orange lead back to 33-27. After Pflueger hit a 3 to move the Irish within 38-37, Howard followed a miss by Brissett and two baskets by freshman forward Bourama Sidibe kept the Orange in front.

A two-handed slam by Geben moved Notre Dame within a point with 4:01 left. Gibbs followed with a pair of free throws to give Notre Dame its first lead since the first minute of play.

Gibbs continued to shine for the Irish in the absence of Farrell. He had 11 points in the first 20 minutes in the win over North Carolina State in the previous game and scored 14 of Notre Dame's 19 points in the first half against Syracuse, which led 28-19 at the break. Gibbs was 5 of 10 from the floor and the rest of the lineup was 1 for 19 in the opening 20 minutes.