‘Cuse Knocks Off #12 Louisville, 69-59

Wednesday, February 18

Syracuse, N.Y.

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

(17-9) (8-5)

Louisville

(20-6) (8-5)

Team	1	2	F
Louisville	32	27	59
Syracuse	28	41	69

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

2/18/2015 8:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Syracuse’s defense held the Cardinals to just four field goals in the final 10:00 of play

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Rakeem Christmas took control of the game in the second half, netting 18 of his 29 points after the intermission to hand No.12 Louisville (20-6, 8-5 ACC) a 69-59 setback. The Orange (17-9, 8-5 ACC) defense limited Louisville to just four field goals in the closing 10 minutes of play.

Syracuse outscored the Cardinals 41-27 in the second half with a 58% shooting effort from the floor and an 18-of-23 performance from the free-throw line. Louisville's offensive production came to a halt in the latter half, making nine baskets and 50% of its free throws.

Syracuse's Interior Has Its Way
The starting Syracuse frontcourt of forwards Michael Gbinije and Tyler Roberson, and center Rakeem Christmas, combined for 60 of the squad's 69 points. After being outscored in the paint, 18-14 in the first, Syracuse fought back for a 32-28 advantage by the end of the contest. The three also accounted for all 21 points scored at the free-throw line for the Orange.

Christmas scored 29 points with a 9-of-10 day from the floor and a 11-of-13 performance from the charity stripe. His scoring was complemented by his eight boards, four blocks and two steals on the defensive end.

Gbinije added 18 with the help of three 3-pointers and a 5-of-6 effort from the free throw line. He also tallied six assists and five boards in the game. Roberson finished just a rebound shy of a double-double while netting 13 points.

Christmas And Gbinije Provide The Punch In The First
After Louisville used a 12-3 run to take an eight-point advantage, Gbinije powered the Orange on a 9-0 burst with five points including a hustle play to deny a Cardinal on a breakaway dunk attempt, giving 'Cuse a 22-21 lead at the under-eight media timeout.

Despite the surge, the Cards responded with a prompt 7-0 stretch to regain the lead with a 28-22 score to force a Syracuse timeout with 4:34 left in the half. Both teams exchanged points down the stretch but it was Gbinije who scored the final basket of the half with 25-seconds remaining to cut the Louisville lead to four, 32-28.

Christmas and Gbinije led the Orange in the first half, combining for 21 of Syracuse's 28 points. Gbinije's 10 points in the stanza gave him double-digits in the first half in four of the last five games. In that stretch of five games, he is 24-of-35 from the floor and 11-of-18 from three while averaging 12.1 points in the first half.

Christmas Gives 'Cuse The Upper Hand
Neither team was able to gain an edge in the second until the Orange used an 8-2 run followed by a 9-3 stretch to take its first lead of the second half by a score of 44-43 with 11:38 to go. Louisville gave a prompt four-point rebuttal to retake the advantage but would soon lose its rhythm with less than 10 minutes to play.

Syracuse attacked the paint to draw seven fouls, including Montrezl Harrell's fourth and Wayne Blackshear's fifth, and penetrated Louisville's defense for a 16-5 surge to take a 60-52 lead with 4:32 left to play. The Syracuse scoring stretch was fueled by 10 points inside from Christmas.

Louisville managed to cut the lead to five but its four baskets from the field with under 10:00 to play wasn't enough to overcome the Orange as it finished on a 9-5 run with seven of its points coming from the charity stripe to seal a 69-59 victory over the Cardinals.

Notes: The crowd of 26,160 was the third largest in college basketball this season . . . The 29 points from Christmas represented the second best scoring output of his career, falling shy of the 35 he had in an overtime victory against Wake Forest . . . Syracuse hosts Pittsburgh on Saturday.