Syracuse men’s basketball vs. Louisville: TV/streaming, time, odds, history & more

Teams: Syracuse Orange (17-14, 10-10) vs. Louisville Cardinals (24-7, 15-5)

Date & Time: Thursday, March 12 at 9 p.m. ET

Location: Greensboro Coliseum, N.C.

TV/Streaming: ESPN

Odds: Not good. Not good at all. If I had to guess, I’d say Louisville will be favored by about eight or nine points.

Radio: Cuse.com, TK 99/105, WAER 88.3

Rivalry: 10-19, Louisville... Pitino always had our number...

Current Streak: 1, Louisville

First Meeting: Back in 1964, the Orange and Cardinals met for the first time. The Orange lost on the road, 67-62 in a game in which Dave Bing and Chuck Richards each scored 23 points. It wasn’t enough to overcome the stifling defense of coach Pete Hickman’s team. It was a tough start for the Orange in ‘64, as they were ranked 7th to start the season but lost six of their first seven games.

Last Meeting: Louisville manhandled the Orange and came away with a 90-66 win at home. Other than the opener against Virginia, it was Syracuse’s worst offensive game. Nothing seemed to go right as the team shot just 38 percent from the field and 27 percent from three.

Head Coaches: Syracuse - Jim Boeheim (44th year; 1,065-392 at SU) | Louisville - Chris Mack (2nd year; 44-21 at Louisville)

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Coach Bio: Chris Mack is in his second season with the Cardinals and having a very solid year, finishing 24-7 and second in the ACC. Last year, in Mack’s first season at the helm and in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Cardinals, he led the team to the NCAA tournament.

Prior to Louisville, Mack coached at Xavier for nine seasons, making the NCAA tournament all but one season. He made it to four Sweet Sixteens and an Elite Eight, and is considered one of the most successful up and coming coaches in college basketball. So far, Mack has had just one season where his team didn’t win 20+ games, and he has never had a losing season.

Last Year: Louisville went 20-14 and made it to the NCAA Tournament as a seven seed, where they lost in the first round to 10th seed Minnesota. Last year’s team was led by sophomore sensation Jordan Nwora, who burst onto the scene to average 17 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, good for All-ACC third team honors and most improved player in the conference.

Last Game: Louisville lost to Virginia on the road, 57-54. After trailing by seven at the half and as many as 11 in the second half, Nwora led Louisville on a furious comeback down the stretch. Unfortunately it just wasn’t enough and the Cavaliers were able to grab their seventh straight victory.

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

”Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: Jordan Nwora. No-brainer here. Nwora was a first-team All-ACC selection and finished ahead of Elijah Hughes in the player of the year voting (though behind Hughes in points). Nwora truly did have an outstanding junior year, averaging 18 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while hitting 40 percent from distance.

Nwora is coming off back-to-back good outings, scoring 18 points and 11 rebounds against Virginia, and 20 points and 12 rebounds against Virginia Tech. He also scored 18 and 11 against us the last time we met, so he will obviously be a handful. He needs to be priority number one for the Orange.

If Syracuse Wins: One step closer to the dream! This would be a fantastic win for this team and some great redemption.

If Syracuse Loses: Eh, I don’t even think I can be mad. After thoroughly trouncing North Carolina, there isn’t much that can sour my mood. If the NIT were to happen, I think we’re clearly in. But hey, who knows if the NCAA tournament will even happen at this point?

Fun Fact 1: Syracuse is 7-0 this season when playing an opponent for the second time. That’s right, we have yet to lose twice to the same team this season, which is certainly a credit to Boeheim and his ability to adapt and adjust.

Fun Fact 2: The longest winning streak for the Orange against the Cardinals was three games in 2012 and 2013. Brandon Triche was the only player to have started all three games, and also led the Orange in scoring twice, with 23 and 18 points.