Syracuse men’s basketball relies on strong first half, wins on the road against Louisville

Syracuse men’s basketball (20-10, 11-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued its streak of struggling down the stretch in an 82-76 win over Louisville (8-21, 3-15 ACC). The win was the fourth in a row for the ‘Cuse. In this streak, the Orange have lost the second half in each game.

Through that streak, the ‘Cuse have had close calls but head coach Adrian Autry was proud of how his team held on.

“We showed our composure,” said Autry. “We made the shots we needed to make and made the stops we needed to.”

Chris Bell led the Orange in scoring with 23 points. The forward went 3-5 from deep and a whopping 8-9 from the free throw line. The sophomore was a huge contributor on defense and the glass as well with three blocks and seven rebounds.

“I'm just proud of Chris…today he made some huge blocks for us and seven rebounds,” said Autry. “He’s starting to grow his game.”

Justin Taylor had one of his best games of the season as well with 11 points. The last time the Virginia native scored more than ten was against Niagara on December 21. Taylor scored more points than he has in any ACC game all year.

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“Really excited for Justin Taylor who had been struggling to come out here and really step up for us,” said Autry.

Taylor and Bell were two of the four players for the Orange who scored in double figures. Maliq Brown added on 10 while Judah Mintz scored 21. SU was shooting the lights out from the field, finishing the game with a field goal percentage just below 60%. Where Syracuse struggled however was from the free throw line, shooting under 65%.

The Orange have one last challenge before postseason play gets underway. On Tuesday Syracuse travels to Clemson (20-9, 10-8 ACC) who lost to Notre Dame last night for the regular season finale. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. with WAER’s coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff.