Syracuse basketball dreadful on both ends of the floor in bad home loss to Louisville

So much for Syracuse basketball's two-game winning streak more than halfway through the 2024-25 season.

The Orange put up a lackluster effort on both ends of the court in an 85-61 setback to red-hot Louisville on Tuesday night at the JMA Wireless Dome.

The Cardinals, arguably the Atlantic Coast Conference's second-best squad behind No. 3 Duke, have now won seven straight, as they improve to 13-5 overall and 6-1 in conference contests. The 'Cuse (8-9, 2-4 in the ACC), playing its third encounter in a row without injured freshman power forward Donnie Freeman, will next host Notre Dame this Saturday beginning at 4 pm and airing on the ACC Network.

Syracuse basketball suffered an embarrassing defeat to Louisville on the Hill.

Given that Freeman was unavailable, and the Cardinals are surging, I figured it would prove a tall task for the Orange to knock off a Louisville team that is currently ranked No. 33 in the NCAA NET rankings.

My biggest frustration with Tuesday evening's result isn't that Syracuse basketball lost. Candidly, I felt like the Cardinals simply out-hustled the 'Cuse on offense and defense. Even when the game was basically decided throughout the second half, Louisville players, to me, seemed to play with much more energy than Orange players, even when the Cardinals were up by a massive margin.

Falling by 24 points at home is just unacceptable. And the 'Cuse entered this ACC affair on a mini roll, having recently beaten Georgia Tech at home and Boston College on the road. The level of effort wasn't there for Syracuse basketball, and that's on the players and the coaching staff.

Louisville snapped a four-game losing streak to the Orange, and the Cardinals have an all-time edge of 20-14 over Syracuse basketball.

Shooting-wise, Louisville was awesome. The Cardinals made 50 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc, while going 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. The 'Cuse, conversely, hit on 40 percent from the field, 32 percent from the perimeter and only 55.6 percent from the charity stripe.

Louisville was plus-five on the glass. The Orange committed 14 turnovers, and the Cardinals led 17-8 in points off turnovers. Louisville also had edges of 17-14 in assists, 10-6 in fast-break points and 34-28 in paint points.

Individually speaking, graduate student center Eddie Lampkin Jr. notched his third consecutive double-double, collecting 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior small forward Chris Bell, who continues to come off the bench, scored a team-high 18 points and went 4-of-7 from deep.

Besides those two, the only other 'Cuse player to reach double-figures in scoring was senior forward Jyare Davis, who had 10 points and eight boards. Junior guard J.J. Starling, who had crushed things in recent games, was held in check, only producing four points on 1-of-7 from the field. He had four assists and six turnovers.

In 19 minutes, freshman forward Petar Majstorovic logged four points, six rebounds, one assist and two steals. Senior guard Jaquan Carlos chipped in seven points and three dimes, but he also had two turnovers.