Syracuse basketball's setback streak reached four games on Tuesday evening, in Kentucky, as fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Louisville, minus its second-leading scorer, torched the Orange's porous defense from beyond the arc to cruise to a 15-point victory.
The 'Cuse (15-15 overall, 6-11 in ACC) fell behind early on in this conference clash and could never fully get back into it. Louisville had the Orange doubled up at 32-16 in the first half and led by 18 points at the intermission.
The Cardinals stretched their lead to 47-23 in the second half. The 'Cuse would try to claw back, trimming its deficit to 11 points. But in the end, Louisville walked away with a relatively easy 77-62 triumph at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
In their all-time series together, the Cardinals (21-9 overall, 10-7 in ACC) now lead Syracuse basketball 21-14. The Orange will host Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon in the 2025-26 regular-season finale, and then the 'Cuse will head to Charlotte, N.C., for next week's ACC Tournament.
Syracuse basketball couldn't defend the perimeter against Louisville.
On Tuesday night, the Orange had a quadrant-one opportunity at the Cardinals, but Syracuse basketball was woeful shooting the 3-ball. In the first half, the 'Cuse went 0-of-11 from deep, and for the entire contest, SU was a mere 4-of-19, or 21.1 percent.
On the flip side, Louisville went 14-of-35 from 3-point land, which equates to a strong 40.0 percent on high volume. The Cardinals being plus-30 points from beyond the arc was the main difference in Tuesday's outcome.
The Orange made 40.4 percent from the field and 70.6 percent from the charity stripe. Louisville, meanwhile, connected on 42.9 percent from the field as a whole and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line.
In other statistical categories, the Cardinals led 12-7 in points off turnovers, 37-35 in total rebounds, 5-3 in steals, 17-8 in assists and 11-9 in turnovers forced. SU led 15-5 in second-chance points, 12-9 in bench points, 38-26 in paint points, 4-0 in fast-break points and 7-3 in blocks.
Junior point guard Naithan George paced Syracuse basketball with 16 points. Redshirt senior small forward Nate Kingz tallied 14 points and six rebounds. Sophomore power forward Donnie Freeman had a double-double of 10 points and 11 boards, but he went just 3-of-11 from the field.
Senior center William Kyle III contributed eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while freshman forward Sadiq White Jr. added eight points and four boards.