The Syracuse Orange aren’t a great three-point shooting team, but hitting those shots from outside has also been key to some of the biggest wins of the season. Opponents clamping down on outside shooting has been key to Elijah Hughes’s recent struggles, and part of what’s caused SU to score fewer than 70 points in four straight games now.
Louisville’s aware of this, of course, and will no doubt be looking to limit Syracuse in the same way on Wednesday. The Cardinals are also among the best three-point shooting teams in the ACC, and hope to use that aspect of their game to extend the zone and potentially exploit some space inside.
The Louisville Courier-Journal dug into the big things the Cards need to do to both beat the vaunted 2-3 zone and keep SU ineffective from beyond the arc. In general, good insights from sources a bit more familiar with U of L, giving us perspective from the other side of this matchup.
That, plus the rest of your Syracuse-related links below:
How Louisville basketball can beat Syracuse’s famed zone defense (Louisville Courier-Journal)
When Syracuse’s offense has clicked consistently, it’s been due to reliable 3-point shooting; the Orange averaged 45.6 percent from beyond the arc through January’s three-game win streak (victories over Duke, Pitt and Miami). In three losses since, however, they’ve averaged 25.7 percent. Louisville’s man-to-man defense is in a better position to pressure passing lanes and stop Syracuse from moving the ball on the perimeter.
Syracuse can beat same No. 1 team twice in same season. Has that ever happened? (Syracuse.com)
Should Syracuse beat Duke again this Saturday, the Orange would become just the seventh team to beat an opponent twice in the same season when the opponent was ranked No. 1 in the nation. Here is a look at the six teams and the teams they beat who were No. 1.
Richmond man reflects on his role helping to integrate college sports (NBC 12)
“The response from the press, alumni, boosters was extremely negative and we were vilified as Syracuse ex-players,” said McGill, “we [did] not want anybody else, not other black kids coming behind us experiencing this racism. That’s what we did and that’s the last time I played college ball.” When McGill graduated from Syracuse University in 1971, he said he would never go back, but he, along with the other Syracuse 8 returned in 2006.
ACC Selection Sunday outlook: did FSU or Louisville earn a lock? (Tomahawk Nation)
The Syracuse Orange only played one game since our last installment, a loss at NC State. No harm in that. It’s a bit funny to see ‘Cuse in this tier with a 48 NET rank, while two teams with NET ranks in the 30s and low 40s sit a tier lower. And I’ll admit that I gave thought to dropping the Orange down a rung. But here’s the thing: Syracuse beat Duke in Durham.
“You cannot make it up”: At the old Big East coaches meetings, no sleight was too small and no voice muted (The Athletic)
The lone subject everyone could agree on was the referees. Nobody liked them. “Everyone wanted to blackball somebody,’’ Boeheim says. “If we all had our way, we’d have no officials.’’ In the early years, they’d spend hours, if not an entire day, haggling over officiating. Every missed call required an audience, with the subsequent rebuttal from the opposing coach who thought the call was just fine.
Aidan Tooker’s journey to running a sub-four-minute mile (Daily Orange)
How we rank the top seven conferences in college basketball (ESPN)
Syracuse Basketball Visiting Center Target Tre Mitchell (247Sports)
Blue: Washington basketball’s 24-year-old analytics ‘superstar’ (The Athletic)
March Madness: Getting to know the No. 10 seed (NCAA.com)
Duke men’s basketball bench struggles to find its footing (Duke Chronicle)