Syracuse heads out to take on Louisville on a three-game losing streak

Syracuse men’s basketball (15-14, 6-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) has another tough battle ahead on Tuesday night when it heads to the KFC Yum! Center to take on24 Louisville (20-9, 9-7 ACC). The Orange enter the game with little momentum after losing their past three contests, most recently by five points (88-83) against Wake Forest on Saturday.

“I mean, (there’s only) so many drills that you can do. It comes down to, do you want to do it? And we’re just not doing it,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said after the loss.

The Orange’s downfall was ultimately giving the Demon Deacons time to make a run, which they capitalized on. Wake Forest went on two different 6-0 runs to first catch up with Syracuse, and then later on in the game to extend its lead to the point where SU couldn’t catch up. 

“You know offense, offense, offense, but you got to be able to get stops,” Autry said. “...When they made their run, the result was that we couldn’t get a stop.”

The second half is what’s killed Syracuse time and time again this season, and the battle against Virginia Tech back in January is a perfect example of this. The Orange had the lead entering halftime, but the Hokies clawed their way back and held Syracuse scoreless in the second half until they were able to tie the game up. After that it was just a lot of back and forth until the first team to slip up lost the ball game; and that was Syracuse. Virginia Tech drained a free throw, and SU guards Nate Kingz and Naithan George each missed game winning shots from deep.

Funnily enough, in that same exact game, Syracuse shot beautifully from three in the first half. Seven of SU’s 13 field goals before the break were beyond the arc. In the loss to Wake Forest over the weekend, it was the same story. The first 12 of the Orange's 16 points against the Demon Deacons were from three-point range, and five different Syracuse players hit a triple before halftime. The common theme? Syracuse failed to stay hot on offense and failed to make up for it on the defensive end. 

“We got it going pretty well offensively, but it’s hard to win games when you can’t compete on the other end,” Nate Kingz said.

Speaking of playing defense, that is something Syracuse has to do against Louisville, who has one of the top offenses in the country. The Cardinals average 86.4 points per game which is ranked 18th in the nation, and they are ranked 19th in offensive efficiency. Not to mention 27th nationally in defense.

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The frontcourt is where Louisville flourishes, and that might give SU’s leading scorer Donnie Freeman some trouble. Freeman dropped a career high 28 points over the weekend, and is most likely on Louisville’s defensive radar. The forward averages 17.2 points per game, but in the two matchups prior to the Demon Deacons, he failed to reach double figures. If the Cardinals decide to put some extra pressure on Freeman, that could drastically limit SU’s ability to put the ball in the net.

Louisville has its own version of Donnie Freeman though, and his name is Ryan Conwell. Conwell averages 18.4 points per game and leads the team with 33 steals on the season. The guard is known for his fast paced style of play, and could be a real threat to the Orange if not guarded properly. Although two very different positions, if Louisville doesn’t let Freeman get hot, and if Syracuse can contain Conwell, this could be a very interesting ball game. 

The matchup marks the second to last regular season game for both squads, and Syracuse is searching for a miracle win to not just get them ranked higher in the ACC tournament, but to increase the possibility of playing in March Madness. The Orange have only taken down one ranked team this season (then number 13 Tennessee), and securing a ranked win on the road can really boost not just the morale of this fatigued squad, but also boost its resume as the regular season comes to an end.