Louisville 72, Syracuse 58: Three Takeaways from Orange Loss to Cardinals

Louisville snapped Syracuse's five-game winning streak on Wednesday night, topping the Orange, 72-58, inside the KFC Yum! Center.

Below are three takeaways from the Orange's loss, which dropped SU to 18-9 overall and 8-6 in the ACC.

1. SU's frontcourt is vulnerable

It had been a while since the Orange were manhandled down low, but that's what happened on Wednesday. They were outrebounded 41-30, with the Cardinals grabbing 14 offensive rebounds -- which they turned into 17 second chance points.

Most telling, however, was that Louisville scored 50 points -- 50! -- in the paint, compared to SU's 20. Cardinals big man Chinanu Onuaku was particularly dominant, scoring 13 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in 29 minutes of work.

On the other side, SU big men Dajuan Coleman, Tyler Lydon and Tyler Roberson for only 15 points and 15 rebounds.

For the Orange, it was a lesson that their thin frontcourt will still get them into trouble from time to time, even if it's often held its own in recent weeks.

2. Against good teams, Syracuse will still need the 3-pointer

Trevor Cooney went 5-of-10 from 3-point range on Wednesday night, but he couldn't get any assistance from his teammates in that department. Aside from him, Syracuse was just 3-of-14 from beyond the arc.

There have been games during conference play in which SU has missed the vast majority of its 3-pointers yet still found a way to win. Long gone, presumably, was the thought that the Orange couldn't beat "anybody" without making those shots -- the sentiments head coach Jim Boeheim expressed early in the season.

But Wednesday proved that against better teams, it's still going to be difficult for Syracuse to survive without making many 3-pointers, because shooting a bunch of them is still likely to be this team's go-to plan on any given night.

3. That was to be expected

Self-imposed postseason ban aside, Louisville is an extremely good basketball team. The Cardinals are now ranked No. 6 overall in kenpom.com's rankings.

And like any great team, the Cardinals are nearly impossible to defeat at home. They've only lost once in the Yum! Center this season, and that was to Virginia -- arguably the best team in the country.

So Syracuse shouldn't feel bad about suffering a 14-point loss to Louisville, even if the second half was particularly ugly. The Cardinals were supposed to win that game.