It took overtime to decide the ACC bout between Louisville (21-5, 9-4) and Syracuse (16-11, 8-6) resulting in a 76-72 thrilling winning for the Cardinals. Syracuse managed to force the overtime after being down 7 with less the 3:00 minutes to play. In fact the Orange had the ball with a shot to win, but lost it out of bounds.
The team also had a chance to win or tie in overtime, with the ball down 2. Andrew White missed a long 3-pointer, but Tyler Roberson corralled the rebound and was fouled. But he could not sink the free throws to tie the game.
Graduate transfer Andrew White had one of his worst shooting performances of the season, shooting 7-24 from the field and 2-14 from behind the arc, but still managed to finish with 22 points. That extends his streak to 7 straight games of scoring at least 20 points. His struggles though reflected much of Syracuse’s problem throughout the game. As a team, the Orange shot 40 percent from the floor and 23 percent from three.
Louisville also dominated the boards throughout the matchup with a plus eight advantage for the game. Much of the Cardinals’ offense was based on their offensive rebounding, leading to putbacks and free throw attempts.
In overtime, Louisville was able to lean on redshirt freshman Ryan McMahon. He scored five points for the Cardinals in the extra period after sophomore Donovan Mitchell, the teams’ leading scorer, fouled out at the end of regulation. McMahon hit a three to answer White’s and-one play at the other end of the floor, then came up with a crucial offensive rebound and lay up to tie the game up again.
The loss dropped Syracuse's conference record to 8-6 with four games to play. Syracuse was a bubble team already heading into Monday night’s game, and even if this was a close loss, it makes the task of making the NCAA tournament much tougher. The Orange has a few days off before traveling to Atlanta on Sunday to play Georgia Tech. The loss to the Cardinals makes the game against the Yellow Jackets even more important in relation to Syracuse’s tournament hopes.
After that game, ‘Cuse returns home to face the rival Blue Devils. Then they travel to Louisville for a rematch with the Cardinals before finishing the season in the Dome against Georgia Tech again. None of those games will be easy for the Orange. Duke is a top 25 team. Georgia Tech has wins over UNC, Florida State and Notre Dame. Louisville just beat Syracuse on its own floor. The road to meaningful March basketball certainly appears rocky for the Orange.
With the win, Louisville moves into a tie with Florida State for second in the conference, just a half game behind North Carolina for the conference lead.
