SU Looks To Fly To A Road Victory Versus The Cardinals
By Neil Adler
The Syracuse basketball team travels for the last time during the regular season to the KFC Yum center to play the Louisville Cardinals in an ACC rematch.
The Cardinals (22-6, 10-5), meanwhile, find themselves in a four-way tie for second place in the conference, two games back of No. 8 North Carolina heading into this weekend’s slate of contests.
On Wednesday night, following the ‘Cuse-Duke battle, the Tar Heels picked up a 74-63 win over Louisville in Chapel Hill, N.C., to extend their ACC lead.
I have no doubt that the Cardinals will want to take out their frustrations of that UNC defeat on Syracuse, so our boys better remain focused, not get killed on the boards, minimize their miscues and generate a strong field-goal percentage on offense.
Otherwise, I fear that SU could get blown out. At the very least, it would behoove the Orange to
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do its best to keep things close, and hopefully put the pressure on Louisville in the second stanza. That may enable the ‘Cuse to steal this one in the end.
It won’t prove easy by any means, however. Syracuse is an awful 2-9 in away and neutral-site tilts. The Cardinals, on the other hand, are virtually invincible at the KFC Yum! Center, sporting a stellar 14-1 mark, which includes impressive conquests of Duke, now-No. 11 Kentucky and now-No. 14 Purdue.
The Cardinals produced a 14-point edge over the Orange in the first half, only to see the ‘Cuse claw its way back. Then, as the game moved toward its conclusion, Louisville still maintained a seven-point cushion.
As it has done time and time again, Syracuse managed to tie up the affair, in part due to poor free-throw shooting by its opponent.
The Orange had a prime opportunity to emerge victorious with fewer than 10 seconds to go, but graduate transfer John Gillon frustratingly turned the ball over.
Down two near the finale of overtime, fellow grad transfer Andrew White III threw up a heavily contested 3-pointer that came up well short. Senior Tyler Roberson got fouled on the rebound attempt, but he missed both chances from the charity stripe, sealing SU’s disappointing fate.
The implications of the Syracuse-Louisville rematch are huge. As we all know, the Orange is firmly on the Big Dance bubble. At present, most mock brackets project that the ‘Cuse is in the field of 68, but not by much.
SU has three wins against teams in the top-10, and a fourth would just about seal the deal for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. A road loss to the Cardinals wouldn’t destroy the Orange’s resume.
But it would require Syracuse, which possesses several terrible defeats in the non-conference slate, to hold serve at home versus Georgia Tech on March 4 in the squad’s last regular-season game. The ‘Cuse also would likely have to get one victory in the ACC Tournament to feel “safe” in terms of reaching the Big Dance.
For UL, it is trying to secure a top-4 finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, which would propel the Cardinals to a coveted double-bye entering the ACC Tournament. Louisville also wants to enhance its resume as much as possible, to garner a No. 1, 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Next: Recruiting News: Will The Orange Ever Offer 2017 Prospect Howard Washington?
The stakes are high. The challenge is daunting. Which Syracuse outfit will show up? The one that recently prevailed over Duke? Or the one that squandered a possible triumph at Georgia Tech? I’m rooting for the former. I’m praying against the latter.