Louisville turned the Orange three point defense into a green light.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team ran into a buzzsaw on Tuesday night as the Louisville Cardinals buried 12 threes inside the JMA Wireless Dome, winning their seventh straight game by a final score of 85-61
Chucky Hepburn led the way for Louisville (13-5, 6-1) with 24 points on 6-10 outside shooting to go with 7 assists. Syracuse (8-9, 2-4) once again struggled to defend as the Orange gave up 50% shooting from the floor, including 42.9% from three. Syracuse was without freshman forward Donnie Freeman for the third straight game with a lower right leg injury.
Adrian Autry made no changes to the starting lineup, going with JJ Starling, Elijah Moore, Lucas Taylor, Jyare Davis and Eddie Lampkin. Louisville jumped out to an early 7-4 lead at the first media timeout. Noah Waterman, a Savannah, N.Y. native, checked in for Louisville and quickly flushed a transition dunk. J’Vonne Hadley then threw down a dunk off a lob and Louisville extended its lead to 13-4.
Chris Bell checked in first off the bench for Syracuse and despite a quick turnover and two missed free throws, he connected on his two three point attempts. Kyle Cuffe and Petar Majstorovic were second and third off the bench, respectively. Jaquan Carlos rounded out the rotation.
Syracuse and Louisville took turns trading buckets around the rim until the game turned into a shootout starting with Reyne Smith. He buried a three from the left wing and was fouled, completing a four-point play to put Louisville up 25-17 with 7:59 in the first half. Chucky Hepburn then found range as Louisville extended its lead to 11.
Cuffe answered from outside for his first three of the night, but Terrence Edwards Jr. responded right back with a corner three for Louisville. Davis then knocked down his second three to cut the deficit to six and Starling found a cutting Majstorovic to cut it to four but that was as close as Syracuse would get in the first half. Hepburn buried another three and had a long stare at some Syracuse fans sitting courtside. He’d bury another on the ensuing play resulting in a timeout. Louisville led 37-27.
With the half winding down, Smith found range once more and after a broken play, Hepburn knocked down a corner three to extend Louisville’s lead to 16. Failing to come up with a loose ball, Autry was visibly frustrated with his team’s effort from the sideline after Louisville’s eighth made three of the half.
Starling and Taylor both took hard falls just before the half. Both laid on the court for extended time were able to get up and walk on their own volition. After, Carlos got a floater to drop before the halftime buzzer, which was ruled no good with the ball still in his hands as the clock expired. As such, Louisville took a 43-27 lead into the half. The Cardinals shot 8-16 from outside while Syracuse shot 5-15. Louisville led the rebounding battle 23-19.
Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Out of the break Louisville’s guards Smtih and Hepburn continued their hot shooting to extend the lead. Carlos connected on a three and layup for Syracuse, but the Cardinals kept Syracuse at bay by working the ball inside and scoring effectively in the paint.
Louisville limited Starling significantly in this game, hard hedging on screens, doubling, making him a passer. Starling just couldn’t get going with Louisville so focused on defending ball screens and closing down driving lanes. Because of that, Bell found himself as the beneficiary for open threes, which he knocked down. He was 4-7 from outside and finished with 18 points. Syracuse, though, couldn’t get defensive stops. Edwards Jr. snaked ball screens and finished around the rim. He knocked down a three. He had 16 points for the Cardinals.
Making his first return to Syracuse since his freshman year, Frank Anselem-Ibe saw second half run. He had two rebounds and made two free throws from one stretch where Cuffe was called for a flagrant one foul for undercutting him on a lob attempt.
There would be no Syracuse comeback in this one. Another Hepburn three blew the game wide open at 77-52 as Syracuse fans filed for the exits with over six minutes remaining. Syracuse showed press but to no avail. Louisville did whatever it wanted on offense. Starling sat the final four and half minutes from the bench and was held to a season-low four points.
Naheem McLeod saw his first action in three games. He’d score on a late dunk as the final basket of the game as Louisville cruised to an 85-61 victory.
Syracuse shot 24-60 from the floor (40%) and 8-25 from three (32%). Louisville shot 31-62 from the floor (50%) and 12-28 from three (42.9%).
Next up
Syracuse returns home to host Notre Dame this Saturday. That game tips at 4 p.m. EST from the JMA Wireless Dome and airs on the ACC Network.
Note: It was “Turn the Orange Green” night at the JMA Wireless Dome as a National Grid promotion included green t-shirts for each seat in the 100 section and the box suites. Very few fans wore the shirts.