2/2 Syracuse Wins at 19/18 Louisville, 52-51

Monday, February 13

Louisville, KY

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Louisville

C.J. Fair led SU with 13 points against the Cardinals

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

2/13/2012 7:03:34 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score | Season Stats

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No. 2/2 Syracuse (26-1, 13-1) scored the final six points of the game and made a huge defensive play down the stretch to defeat 19/18 Louisville (20-6, 8-5) 52-51 on Monday night at the KFC Yum! Center.

#C.J. Fair had a team-high 13 points and Fab Melo# chipped in 11 point and six rebounds. Both teams shot 34 percent from the floor, but the Orange held a 38-24 advantage in the paint.

Louisville scored the first four points of the game and led 13-7 with 10:20 to play. Brandon Triche's rebound basket sparked the Orange on an 8-1 scoring run, which gave SU its first lead of the game. Kris Joseph had four points during the run, and his two free throws with 5:13 on the clock gave SU a 15-14 advantage.

The Cardinals regained the lead when Russ Smith hit three free throws after being fouled on a shot behind the arc. The teams traded baskets before Louisville scored five consecutive points to take a 24-20 lead with 33 seconds remaining. The Orange had one final possession before intermission and Dion Waiters drove through the lane and hit a layup with three seconds left on the clock to cut Louisville's lead to 24-22 at halftime.

With Louisville leading 30-25 early in the second half, Syracuse used a 7-0 run to regain the lead at 32-30. The spurt was highlighted by fast break dunks by Triche and Melo.

After Louisville took the lead back with a three, Syracuse would then gain its largest advantage at 44-36 with a 12-2 run, capped off by James Southerland retrieving his missed three-pointer and slamming it home with 6:04 left in the contest.

The Cardinals, however, responded with a 15-2 run, and went ahead with a Chris Smith corner three, putting Louisville up 49-46 heading into the final media timeout of the game.

Syracuse recaptured the lead by scoring the next six points. Fair put the Orange up 52-51 with a reverse layup after Waiters found him open on the baseline with 2:11 remaining.

Neither team would add points to the board down the stretch, but Louisville had a chance to win the game on its final possession after a defensive stop with 20 seconds remaining. U of L guard Payton Siva had the ball drove to the basket, but lost control as Waiters grabbed the loose ball and was fouled with 1.4 second left. He missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, but Louisville was unable to get off a last second desperation shot as Syracuse held on for the victory.

The Syracuse bench outscored Louisville 26-5, and accounted for half of the Orange points. The Cardinals held a 40-37 rebounding advantage for the contest. Chane Bechanan led Louisville with 16 points and also pulled down nine rebounds.

SU is off until Sunday, Feb. 19 when the Orange travels to take on Rutgers (1:00 p.m., ESPN).

Notes: The win was Syracuse's first against Louisville since 2006 and it snapped a seven game losing streak to the Cardinals … Melo has now scored double-digits in four of the last five games and has made his last 10 free throws … The Orange was 1-of-15 from behind the arc but was 9-of-11 from the free throw line.