Men's Basketball

Beat writers predict Syracuse-Louisville matchup

Jessica Sheldon | Staff Photographer

In SU's last game against UofL, John Gillon scored 11 points, including a game-tying 3-pointer with a hand smothered in his face. Gillon hit the game-winner against Duke on Wednesday.

Thirteen days after nearly upsetting Louisville on the Carrier Dome floor, Syracuse gets another crack at the No. 7 Cardinals. This time, it’ll be at KFC Yum! Center Sunday at 2 p.m. The Orange (17-12, 9-7 Atlantic Coast), which is 0-2 on Sundays this season, is coming off a last-second victory over No. 10 Duke on Wednesday while UofL (22-6, 10-5) lost 74-63 at No. 8 North Carolina, also on Wednesday. Both teams round out the regular season next Saturday.

The Daily Orange beat writers explain their selections for Sunday afternoon’s matchup.

Connor Grossman (16-13)
Red zone
Louisville 77, Syracuse 70

As Syracuse nears completion of the regular season, we won’t learn anything we don’t already know in the team’s last road game before the ACC Tournament. SU can’t play its best game outside of the Carrier Dome, and that’s what it’ll take to beat the seventh-ranked team in the country. Louisville once again will take away the 3-point shot from the Orange and the visitor’s offensive fate will rest on John Gillon, Taurean Thompson and Tyus Battle. It’s not that Syracuse is incapable of beating the Cardinals, it just won’t happen on Sunday afternoon in the KFC Yum! Center.

Matt Schneidman (13-16)
Lock it up
Syracuse 74, Louisville 70



There’s nothing, on paper at least, that indicates Syracuse will win the game. It’s on the road, for one, and against one of the best teams in the country, despite the Cardinals’ loss to North Carolina on Wednesday. As we saw in the Carrier Dome, Louisville doesn’t need its best player, Donovan Mitchell, to build a lead. We also saw that the Orange is up to snuff against Rick Pitino’s team, and coming off its second buzzer-beating win of the season, Syracuse will steal one from the Cardinals and all but lock up an NCAA Tournament spot with a fourth Top 10 win.

Paul Schwedelson (17-12)
Slugfest
Louisville 70, Syracuse 65

This Syracuse season has been as turbulent as any, but there are a few things we’re pretty sure we know. This is a much worse team on the road and it’s also one that won’t quit no matter what. Each of the Orange’s past nine games have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Louisville’s pretty good but with three Top 10 wins under SU’s belt, there’s good reason to think Syracuse can hang around.





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