No. 7 Louisville looks to bounce back versus Syracuse (Feb 26, 2017)
LOUISVILLE -- If Sunday's Louisville-Syracuse game is anything like the last one, fans are in for a thriller.
The No. 7 Cardinals (22-6, 10-5 ACC) needed overtime to beat the Orange (17-12, 9-7) less than two weeks ago at the Carrier Dome. That game saw Louisville score 10 straight points in overtime after it struggled to put the game away in the final minutes of regulation.
"We actually learned a lot about ourselves in that last game," said Louisville's leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, whose game-high 16 points included some crucial shots in the second half.
Syracuse also learned a lot about itself since the Louisville game. The Orange just picked up their biggest victory of the season Wednesday, a dramatic win over No. 10 Duke on a last-second, bank-shot 3-pointer by John Gillon.
"We've got three tough games in a row, and we're coming down to the wire here," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "(The Duke game) was a great win, but now we have an even-tougher game on Sunday."
Conversely, Louisville is coming off a disappointing second half during a loss at North Carolina on Wednesday night.
Syracuse figures to be riding high after the win over Duke. Meanwhile, Louisville went back to the drawing board after struggling from the foul line at North Carolina, an issue that essentially helped Syracuse get back into the game with the Cardinals at the Carrier Dome.
"We probably spend more time working on that than most other programs," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said.
Pitino was clearly disgusted by Louisville's recent string of poor foul-shooting games: "We actually have to take practice time away to work on foul shots."
"The good thing about free throws is that it is something you can fix," Mitchell said. "Your body -- Anas (Mahmoud) and Ray (Spalding) can work for months on gaining weight to get results, but with free throws, you go into the gym, work on it for a week straight and at the end of that week you are a better free throw shooter."
Meanwhile, Gillon hasn't missed a free throw in nearly a month, making his last 43.
"It's been such a weapon for us this season," Syracuse assistant coach Gerry McNamara said. "With the three guys (Gillon, Andrew White, Tyler Lydon) taking the majority of our free throws, we're right at the top of the conference."
As with most Louisville-Syracuse matchups, Sunday's game is all about defense.
"They are actually one of the easiest teams to prepare for because you know exactly what they are going to do," Pitino said. "... But knowing what to do and doing it are two different things. ... Their 2-3 zone, they are very active in it. They have a bunch of guys who are really long -- Lydon, (Tarean) Thompson, White -- that makes it difficult."
And for Louisville, the Cardinals are one of the best 3-point defensive teams in the nation. Louisville held Syracuse to only 23.5 percent shooting from beyond arc Feb. 13.
On offense, Syracuse is led by White's 17.5 points per game. But it was Lydon who drew the most praise from Louisville players and coaches.
"He has a great post-up game and then he can also shoot it from nearly halfcourt. He's such a matchup problem," Mitchell said. "He's also the center of that zone and he's ready to block a shot if you get near him."
As good as Lydon is, Gillon might be the key. He's only averaging 11.1 points, but the grad-transfer point guard seems to have taken over the Syracuse team.
"We seem to go as John Gillon goes," Boeheim said. "When he's good we haven't lost, and he's been good recently. He was really good (against Duke)."
The Cardinals try for their 25th consecutive victory over a team they played on the road earlier in the season. Louisville is 27-1 in such games under Pitono.
The Orange are 2-9 on the road this season while the Cardinals are 14-1 in the KFC Yum! Center.
