The Syracuse Orange entered a precarious spot on Wednesday night, in need of a win to feel good about its NCAA Tournament hopes. Lose, and the task becomes more difficult almost assuredly needing to grab a win against Duke, North Carolina or Virignia. Instead, the Orange picked up a vital third quadrant one win by handling the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals 69-49.
Syracuse stifled the Cardinals offense by cutting off threes (Louisville shot 5-for-27) and forcing 13 turnovers. Louisville had cut the lead to 15 with 9:17 remaining and Jordan Nwora raced in transition threatening 12. So too, was Chukwu.
He leaped, blocked Nwora, and the two tumbled to the ground.
As Chukwu rolled over and slowly rose to chase his teammates well into their offensive set, the Carrier Dome rose in ovation. Within moments he dove to the ground again, grabbing a loose ball that fell out of Buddy Boeheim’s hands and forcing a jump ball. Boeheim hit a three seconds later and the Cardinals never threatened again.
Nwora and Louisville tried to crack the zone early with side-to-side movement, but made their dent on offensive rebounds. Dwayne Sutton grabbed a pair in front of the Orange back line, kicking out both times to Nwora who hit the only of Louisville’s first six three-point attempts.
SU fared better outside, converting on an early look by Oshae Brissett on the left wing and otherwise using downhill action to generate six free throws in the first eight minutes. Paschal Chukwu caught a delayed pick and roll after Frank Howard fed Tyus Battle to make the pass, earning two points at the line. Elijah Hughes worked the post and Marek Dolezaj cut inside on a pass from Battle to score six of the Orange’s first 11 at the line.
Syracuse focused on threes and layups, Marek Dolezaj and Hughes unloading four straight misses outside in the Battle-led shooter lineup. But the Orange built a 19-12 lead after Dolezaj dove on a loose offensive rebound to get the possession arrow back, Brissett charged inside on a put back and Buddy Boeheim finally cracked the lid open with a three on the left wing.
SU shot to a double-digit lead with Boeheim on the floor, who sparked the run by stealing Darius Perry’s pass and hitting an elbow shot after an offensive rebound by Dolezaj at the other end. The two lit up the Dome; Dolezaj followed with another diving rebound on the defensive end that sent Hughes running in the other direction to break his cold streak from three.
Pressure in the Syracuse zone ramped up at the same time as the volume in the Carrier Dome. Kwhan Fore got trapped in the right wing and nearly lost the ball falling over. Nwora did lose it as he stalled on his drive inside against Dolezaj. Hughes stuffed Cunningham to set up another three for Brissett, who capped the half tipping out a miss by Hughes into another try from three before the buzzer. Hughes hit two of three before the buzzer sounded to hit the locker room ahead 35-23.
Syracuse clamped Louisville into the second half, allowing for their own drought in the first five minutes but Brissett opened up the offense posting up Cunningham all the way to the rim with the shot clock draining. Battle stripped Cunningham soon after to get an open dunk. He then hit two free throws after spinning inside to the rim, then hit Hughes for three and a 44-28 lead.
Meanwhile the Cardinals embarked on a 0-for-8 stretch over nearly seven minutes, salvaging only one point at the free throw line. The run put Syracuse ahead by 19 before Nwora and Ryan McMahon hit a layup and three before the halfway point in the second.
They nearly turned it back into a 12-point game past the halfway point of the second, when Chukwu chased down Nwora from behind after a missed layup by Battle. The layup would’ve put Louisville back in striking distance, but Chukwu swatted it away from behind. He stumbled up the floor and dove on a loose ball that Boeheim initially lost. The hustle play got Boeheim a three on the second-chance possession and a 53-35 lead.
Hughes matched a three by Malik Williams and Syracuse forced four more empty possessions keeping Louisville at bay down 17. Battle, Boeheim, Brissett and Dolezaj passed seamlessly out of an aggressive press by Louisville.
Syracuse can now look ahead to Duke, the No. 1 team in the country, visiting the Carrier Dome at 6 p.m. on Saturday in front of what’s expected to be the largest crowd in NCAA basketball history.