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Syracuse caps regular season with win over Louisville

Mar 4, 2012 - 5:35 AM Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) - Brandon Triche scored 18 points as No. 2 Syracuse closed the books on its best-ever regular season with a 58-49 decision over No. 19 Louisville in the regular season finale for both schools at Carrier Dome.

Dion Waiters added 13 points and Kris Joseph contributed 11 for the Orange (30-1, 17-1 Big East), who have won 10 straight overall and finished 19-0 at home.

"We just want to play well at the end of the day," Joseph said. "The Big East Tournament is really important to us. We want to bring that title back to Syracuse. But at the end of the day, March Madness is the big dance, and that's what we're preparing for. So we're hoping to play well in the Big East Tournament and carry that momentum into the NCAA Tournament."

Chane Behanan and Russ Smith totaled 10 points apiece for the Cardinals (22-9, 10-8), who have dropped three of four. Gorgui Deng totaled a game-best 12 rebounds in defeat.

Louisville led 15-9 just over eight minutes in, but Syracuse turned the tables with a 17-1 run over the next seven-plus minutes to take control.

James Southerland kicked it off with a trey and Fab Melo added a jumper. Waiters connected from long distance to put the Orange on top by a 17-16 count. Waiters and Triche later added back-to-back buckets and Southerland ended the run by sinking two free throws with four minutes left to make it 26-16.

The hosts led 26-19 at the break, but quickly extended that edge after Triche began the second half with eight straight points -- including a pair of three- pointers.

Syracuse kept the pedal to the floor and Joseph's dunk pushed the advantage to 50-31 with 8:39 to go. Peyton Siva's layup brought the Cardinals within 50-40 with 4:07 to play but the visitors didn't reduce their deficit below double digits until the final seconds.

Behanan and Jared Swopshire each totaled four points to fuel Louisville's early surge.

Game Notes

The victory marked just the third time in program history Syracuse has reached 30 wins, after a 30-7 season in 1986-87 and a 30-5 finish two years ago...Melo totaled just four points, but added eight boards and blocked four shots...Siva turned the ball over a game-high six times...Attendance was 33,205, the fifth- largest all-time at Carrier.