SU Caps Regular Season At Louisville

Live Stats | Live audio | Game Notes

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – #1/1 Syracuse (28-2, 15-2) and Louisville (19-11, 10-7) close out their regular seasons and close down historic Freedom Hall when they meet on Saturday, March 6 at 2 p.m. The Cardinals are set to open a new downtown arena next season and a special ceremony to commemorate Freedom Hall will take place prior to tipoff Saturday.

The game will be televised live on ESPN. Fans can also listen to the action via the Syracuse ISP Radio Network and its flagship TK 99 (99.5 FM). The audio stream of the radio broadcast will be available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access. In addition, fans can watch the game live online at ESPN360.com by clicking here

Saturday's game is the second between the two clubs this season. Louisville is one of just two opponents to get the better of SU this season. The Cardinals posted a 66-60 win on Valentine's Day at the Carrier Dome.

ORANGE EYES PERFECT CONFERENCE ROAD RECORD
Syracuse is 8-0 against BIG EAST opponents on the road this year and is trying to become the first league team to go undefeated on the road in conference play since Connecticut in 1998-99. The Huskies were 9-0 in BIG EAST road games that season and finished 16-2 in the league on its way to the national championship. The Orange's eight conference road victories this season is a school record.

BIG EAST CHAMPIONS!
Syracuse won the conference regular-season championship outright for the second time in school history on Tuesday with an 85-66 win against St. John's. The Orange's other outright regular-season crown was in 1990-91. Syracuse will be the top seed in next week's BIG EAST Championship at Madison Square Garden. The Orange will play at 12 p.m. on Thursday, March 11 in the quarterfinal round.

SENIOR SEND-OFF
Seniors Arinze Onuaku and Andy Rautins combined for 35 points in Tuesday's victory against the Red Storm. Onuaku tallied a season-high and game-best 21 points, while Rautins chipped in 14. Onuaku hauled eight rebounds and Rautins passed out seven assists in the triumph. Both players were recognized before the game and received standing ovations upon exiting the contest in the second half.

ONUAKU JUST SHY OF 1,000-POINT, 800-REBOUND CLUB
Onuaku is on the verge on joining an elite club at Syracuse. He currently ranks 37th on the team's career list with 1,215 points and he also has 794 career rebounds. Onuaku needs six boards to become the 15th player in school history to record 1,000 points and 800 rebounds. Derrick Coleman heads that prestigious list with more than 2,000 points and 1,500 rebounds.

BOEHEIM CLOSING IN ON PHELAN
Orange head coach Jim Boeheim earned his 827th career coaching victory Tuesday against St. John's. Boeheim is sixth on the Division I career coaching wins list. He is three wins shy of tying legendary Mount Saint Mary's coach Jim Phelan for fifth on that prestigious ledger.

SCOUTING LOUISVILLE

The Cardinals lost on Tuesday at Marquette, 69-48, and enter Saturday's contest with a 19-11 record, including a 10-7 mark in the BIG EAST. Louisville is currently sixth in the conference standings and has secured a first-round bye in the BIG EAST Tournament.

Sophomore forward Samardo Samuels leads the team in scoring (15.5), rebounding (7.1) and blocked shot (1.2) averages. Senior guard Edgar Sosa ranks second in scoring (12.9) and tops the club in assist average (4.4). Senior guard Jerry Smith (8.4 ppg.) joins Samuals and Sosa as virtual regulars in the starting lineup.

Sosa had 12 points against the Orange in the season's first meeting.

The Cardinals are coached by Rick Pitino, who is in his eighth season at Louisville and 23rd year overall. Pitino is 219-84 with the Cardinals and he has led four collegiate programs in his career - Boston University, Providence, Kentucky and Louisville. He is the only coach to take three different schools to the Final Four, and he won the NCAA title with Kentucky in 1996. Pitino has also spent time in the NBA, as an assistant and head coach for the New York Knicks and head coach and president of the Boston Celtics.

Pitino, a former guard at Massachusetts, got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 1974. He spent two years there before coming to Syracuse to serve as an assistant under Boeheim from 1976-1978.

THE SERIES

Louisville has an 11-4 advantage in the all-time series with Syracuse and has won the last five pairings with the Orange, including the six-point win back in February. The most recent Syracuse trip to Freedom Hall was two seasons ago, a visit that resulted in a 61-50 loss for the Orange.

Syracuse University Athletics

Next Event

Related Videos