Syracuse shoots the Cards out of the gym to the tune of a historically bad milestone for Louisville Basketball.
Louisville basketball Interim Head Coach Mike Pegues’s first road game of the season came in the largest college basketball venue in the world Saturday afternoon, and the Cards looked a bit intimidated in the first ten minutes, falling behind to a .500 (11-11) Syracuse team 25-14.
The Orange shot an impressive 62% from the field in that stretch, including tallying 6 assists. But as we’ve seen from Louisville basketball the last two matchups (Duke and UNC), this Louisville basketball squad exuded confidence and great patience on the offensive end, cutting the lead to seven 27-20.
The Cards wouldn’t get any closer the rest of the game.
Although Louisville turned Syracuse over 7 times in the first half and grabbed 4 offensive rebounds despite only shooting 13.3% (2-15) from 3-point range, the Orange still managed to climb out to a 43-26 lead at the half behind 53.3% shooting from long range.
The second half wasn’t any better for the Cards. Syracuse continued to pile on, jumping out to a 69-42 lead midway through the half, almost doubling Louisville in assists (16-9) at this point. Louisville just couldn’t get anything going from behind the arc or in the paint all game long.
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The Orange kept on the heat for the remainder of the contest, coasting to a 92-69 drubbing over Louisville. The Cards were led by Jae’Lyn Withers with 13 points. Sydney Curry added 8 points and 10 rebounds. Jesse Edwards and Buddy Boeheim led Syracuse with 19 points a piece.
Louisville basketball falls to 11-12, having dropped their fifth-straight game for the first time since December 16, 2000 (loss @ South Alabama 72-65).
Postgame thoughts:
- The Withers three-point shooting experiment (should be) over.
- Everyone seems to have lost touch around the rim.
- Louisville actually battled closely in the second half (49-43)
- A tale of two halves.
- Teams that can’t miss is an all too familiar narrative.
- There just isn’t enough athleticism on this roster.
