Final
Syracuse snaps losing streak to Louisville
Feb 14, 2012 - 3:36 AMVideo
"An unbelievable defensive struggle," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.
He undersold it.
Fair's layup, after Dion Waiters drove the lane and found him beneath the basket, capped a 6-0 run with 2:11 remaining in the game and neither team scored after that.
The Cardinals went cold over the final 3:38 after Chane Behanan's tip-in ended a 15-2 run to give them a five-point lead.
Fab Melo added 11 points and the Orange (26-1, 13-1 Big East) beat Louisville for the first time since a 79-66 victory at home on February 18, 2006.
Behanan had 16 points to pace the Cardinals (20-6, 8-5) and Chris Smith scored 10. Peyton Siva was scoreless after leading all players with eight points in the first half.
Louisville had a six-game overall winning streak snapped, while Syracuse won its sixth in a row since falling to Notre Dame last month.
The Cardinals, after roaring back, just couldn't finish the Orange off. They missed nine of their 21 free throw attempts.
"It was a defensive battle and they came up with the plays in the end. I am very, very disappointed that we lost the game because last year the same thing happened," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino.
"If you take both teams who are struggling with the other's defense then we made some really bad mental plays and took ourselves out of the dribble penetration. We have handled their zone really well in the past couple years because we had multiple guys dribble-penetrate... But when it comes down to it, it is very simple -- we didn't make free throws. That's what is so bothersome to me."
Trailing 44-36 with 7 1/2 minutes left, the Cardinals scored five straight points on a dunk by Behanan and a three by Smith to spark their 15-2 run. Later, Gorgui Dieng's three-point play tied the game and Smith knocked down a three from the left side in transition to give Louisville a 49-46 lead.
The Cardinals pushed their advantage to 51-46 on Behanan's tip, which followed a turnover by Syracuse's Kris Joseph, who fumbled the ball out of bounds, and a missed three-point try by Smith.
Brandon Triche hit a jumper at the other end and Melo made two free throws, drawing the Orange within a point and setting up Fair's go-ahead layup.
Earlier, Louisville took a 24-22 lead into the locker room despite going more than 10 minutes without a field goal near the end of the low-scoring first half.
Siva's three-pointer gave the Cardinals a 12-5 lead, but they went without a made field goal until Jared Swopshire's turnaround one-hander in the lane made it 21-20 with 1:31 left in the half.
Game Notes
Triche had eight points for Syracuse and Dieng scored nine for Louisville with a game-high 10 rebounds...The teams will meet again for their regular season finale on March 3 at Syracuse...Louisville still leads the all-time series 13-5.
- #1 Cards Fan Both teams played like crap and the Ville just showed on national television that the Cuse is smoke and mirrors as the nation's #2 team. They're really great, just not #2 great. On a good night, I bet Murray State could beat this team. I doubt the Ville closes with a W in the Carrier Dome, though, so expect a sweep this year.
Syracuse(2) 52, Louisville(19) 51 FinalFeb 13 9:16 PM - Sam DiMaria III And the streak ends! Like I said stop living in the past! CUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Syracuse(2) 52, Louisville(19) 51 FinalFeb 13 9:02 PM - SYRACUSE: 52
LOUISVILLE: 51
Final
Feb 13 9:02 PM - Sam DiMaria III Its going down to the Wire! CUSE!!!!!
Syracuse(2) 52, Louisville(19) 51 2nd - 0:39Feb 13 8:57 PM - 176
rootsRUWTbot Added 14 roots (Close Finish, Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 52, Louisville(19) 51 2nd - 2:07Feb 13 8:54 PM - 162
rootsRUWTbot Added 36 roots (Close Finish, Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 50, Louisville(19) 51 2nd - 2:55Feb 13 8:53 PM - 126
rootsRUWTbot Added 21 roots (Close Finish, Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 48, Louisville(19) 51 2nd - 3:11Feb 13 8:52 PM - 100
rootsRUWTbot Took away 48 roots (Close Finish, Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 46, Louisville(19) 49 2nd - 4:30Feb 13 8:47 PM - 148
rootsRUWTbot Added 16 roots (Close Finish, Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 46, Louisville(19) 46 2nd - 4:57Feb 13 8:47 PM - 132
rootsRUWTbot Added 51 roots (Close Finish, Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 46, Louisville(19) 45 2nd - 4:57Feb 13 8:46 PM - #1 Cards Fan In all honesty...ugly game on both sides for the majority of the game...whichever team wins this game won't have much to brag about.
Syracuse(2) 46, Louisville(19) 43 2nd - 5:04Feb 13 8:45 PM - 81
rootsRUWTbot Added 13 roots (Close Finish, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 46, Louisville(19) 43 2nd - 5:04Feb 13 8:43 PM - 68
roots - 52
roots - Sam DiMaria III Cuse on a run! Time to deep fry these birds!
Syracuse(2) 42, Louisville(19) 35 2nd - 8:45Feb 13 8:37 PM - 68
rootsRUWTbot Took away 17 roots (Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 38, Louisville(19) 35 2nd - 10:13Feb 13 8:34 PM - Sam DiMaria III Great defensive battle so far.
Syracuse(2) 36, Louisville(19) 35 2nd - 11:45Feb 13 8:30 PM - 85
rootsRUWTbot Added 17 roots (Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 32, Louisville(19) 33 2nd - 15:06Feb 13 8:20 PM - 68
rootsRUWTbot Took away 17 roots (Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 32, Louisville(19) 30 2nd - 15:43Feb 13 8:19 PM - Sam DiMaria III N the game is tied with the throw down by Triche! CUSE!!!
Syracuse(2) 30, Louisville(19) 30 2nd - 16:39Feb 13 8:16 PM - Jared Martin Is no one else concerned that they equal less than 50 total points by the half?
Syracuse(2) 22, Louisville(19) 27 2nd - 18:52Feb 13 8:11 PM - #1 Cards Fan I was way off...Ville holds 13 wins of the 17 games played between the two schools...Cuse has lots of work to do to even it up...maybe by 2025 it'll be closer :)
Syracuse(2) 22, Louisville(19) 24 HalfFeb 13 8:08 PM - Sam DiMaria III Stop living in the past. Cuse gonna take care of biz tonight.
Syracuse(2) 22, Louisville(19) 24 HalfFeb 13 8:08 PM - #1 Cards Fan We shall see... the Ville owns Cuse...Cuse needs like 5 more wins to even the all-time series.
Syracuse(2) 22, Louisville(19) 24 HalfFeb 13 8:06 PM - Sam DiMaria III CUSE gonna smash mouth those cards in the 2nd half!
Syracuse(2) 22, Louisville(19) 24 HalfFeb 13 8:04 PM - SYRACUSE: 22
LOUISVILLE: 24
Halftime
Feb 13 7:53 PM - 80
roots - 69
rootsRUWTbot Added 11 roots (Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 18, Louisville(19) 19 1st - 2:12Feb 13 7:49 PM - 58
rootsRUWTbot Added 11 roots (Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 15, Louisville(19) 17 1st - 4:26Feb 13 7:41 PM - 47
rootsRUWTbot Took away 22 roots (Upset, Ranked Teams)
Syracuse(2) 11, Louisville(19) 13 1st - 6:21Feb 13 7:34 PM - 69
roots - 58
roots - SYRACUSE: 0
LOUISVILLE: 0
1st Half - 20:00
Feb 13 7:04 PM - 47
roots
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