Louisville is a sizable betting favorite at home against Syracuse basketball on Tuesday night, although the Cardinals will be without the services of one of their best players.
FanDuel has Louisville (20-9 overall, 9-7 in ACC) as a 12.5-point betting favorite over the Orange (15-14 overall, 6-10 in ACC), with the over/under set at 158.5 points. The teams will tip off at 9:00 pm EST on March 3 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., with television coverage on the ACC Network.
The 'Cuse has lost three straight, while Louisville enters this Atlantic Coast Conference clash having dropped two in a row and also three of its past four encounters.
According to injury reports submitted to the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday evening, the Orange won't be missing any main rotational players. However, Louisville says that star freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. is out for this conference contest. He has reportedly been dealing with a back injury.
The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Brown, a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft who hails from Orlando, Fla., was a five-star, top-10 national prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle. For Louisville, he is averaging 29.2 minutes, 18.2 points (second on the team), 4.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 3.1 turnovers per game while hitting on 41.0 percent from the field, 84.4 percent from the free-throw line and 34.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Key metrics for Syracuse basketball at Louisville on Tuesday evening.
Syracuse basketball
NCAA NET ranking: No. 79 overall
Home record: 12-5
Neutral-site record: 1-3
Road record: 2-6
Quadrant-one record: 1-9
Quadrant-two record: 3-3
Quadrant-three record: 4-2
Quadrant-four record: 7-0
KenPom rating: No. 77 overall
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: No. 79
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: No. 95
Louisville
NCAA NET ranking: No. 17 overall
Home record: 14-2
Neutral-site record: 3-0
Road record: 3-7
Quadrant-one record: 6-9
Quadrant-two record: 4-0
Quadrant-three record: 2-0
Quadrant-four record: 8-0
KenPom rating: No. 19 overall
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: No. 17
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: No. 30
The Cardinals' high-scoring, efficient offense will thoroughly challenge a 'Cuse defense that, candidly, is struggling big time these days. Louisville hasn't lost a game outside of quadrant one, going a combined 14-0 in the other three quadrants. Plus, the Cardinals are excellent at home, making Tuesday's game a tall, tall task for Syracuse basketball.