Syracuse Basketball: Orange must focus on paint points against Louisville

Syracuse basketball has to defeat Louisville on the road this Wednesday night to even think about sniffing a Big Dance berth.

Unless Syracuse basketball somehow goes on a magical run to capture the Atlantic Coast Conference post-season tournament trophy, the Orange will have to knock off Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday evening to entertain any sort of chance to go dancing in March.

I’m no bracketologist, but what’s clear is that the ‘Cuse (14-11, 7-7) lacks a signature non-conference success, and Syracuse has performed just so-so in the league portion of the 2019-20 campaign to date.

As such, an upset of the No. 11 Cardinals (21-5, 12-3) is really the final opportunity for the Orange to notch a high-quality achievement prior to the ACC tourney, due to the conference having a sub-par year, and the remainder of the ‘Cuse schedule lacking significant quadrant-one occasions.

Now, if Syracuse can conquer Louisville, which currently resides in second place in the league standings, and score a bunch of additional wins over the next few weeks, perhaps the Orange can re-enter the bubble conversation.

The Cardinals, a crew that has dropped two straight, are presently at No. 9 in the NCAA NET system and projected as a No. 3 seed in the upcoming field of 68.

Highlights of Louisville’s resume include beating Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, blowing out N.C. State on the road, and taking out Michigan as well as Virginia. The Cardinals’ setbacks are to Texas Tech, Kentucky in overtime, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson.

For the ‘Cuse, it suits up in four of its last six regular-stanza affairs away from Central New York, and, despite, Louisville’s recent woes, the Cardinals are a stellar 14-1 on their own turf. Needless to say, Syracuse will have its collective hands full in this duel.

Orange redshirt junior forward Elijah Hughes resides at No. 1 in the ACC in scoring, but right behind him is Louisville junior forward Jordan Nwora.

Nwora, who has struggled of late, is a terrific talent, averaging 18.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per encounter, while shooting 45.4 percent from the field, 82.1 percent from the charity stripe and 42.1 percent from beyond the arc.

In its trademark 2-3 zone, ‘Cuse guys will have to key up on Nwora and a host of other Cardinals players, because Louisville connects on an impressive 38.3 percent from deep. The Cardinals hit on 45.6 percent from the field as a whole, and 73.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Louisville certainly has an efficient offense, but the Cardinals also perform well on defense, allowing just 63.9 points a game. Moreover, Louisville is among the best groups in the conference as it pertains to its opponents’ shooting percentages from 3-point land.

Given this factoid, and that Syracuse isn’t lighting it up with the long ball in recent battles, it would behoove the Orange to concentrate on generating points in the paint area, rather than hoisting up tough attempts from 3-point range.

All-time, the ‘Cuse is a mere 10-18 versus the Cardinals, but Syracuse has claimed the past two in this series. It won’t prove easy by any stretch of the imagination, but let’s hope that the Orange can make it a trio of consecutive conquests.