#7/6 Cardinals Down Orange

Sunday, February 26

Louisville, KY

2:00 PM

Syracuse University

17-13,9-8

Louisville

23-6,11-5

LOUISVILLE

Photo by: David Gunn

2/26/2017 4:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Freshman Tyus Battle scored a team-high 20 points to lead Syracuse in its 88-68 setback at No. 7/6 Louisville on Sunday, Feb. 26 at the KFC Yum! Center. The Orange will enter their final regular-season game next weekend in the Carrier Dome with a 17-13 record, including a 9-8 mark in ACC play.

Battle scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half as he was one of only two players to make a field goal for the Orange prior to halftime. The other was Tyler Lydon, who posted his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Taurean Thompson added 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Cardinals (23-6, 11-5) started the game with a hot hand, while the Orange were ice cold. Louisville hit five of its first six shots as it jumped out to a 9-2 lead at the 17:33 mark, forcing a Syracuse timeout. Battle went 1-for-2 from the free throw line and then hit a 3-pointer for the Orange's first basket in six attempts to spark Syracuse on a 15-2 scoring run that gave Syracuse a 17-13 lead. Battle had nine points during the offensive outburst, including the final three on a basket from behind the arc with 10:04 on the clock.

A pair of free throws by Jaylen Johnson halted the Syracuse run as the Cardinals scored seven straight points to retake the lead. Thompson hit a pair of free throws to bring the Orange within two, 21-19, with 7:12 on the clock, but Louisville outscored Syracuse, 20-6, for the remainder of the half as Deng Adel's pair of free throws with 37 seconds left gave Cardinals a 41-25 halftime lead.

Louisville scored the first seven points of the second half to open up a 23-point advantage, its largest of the day, at 48-25. The Cardinals led 60-41 when graduate student John Gillon hit a pair of free throws to spark the Orange on a 9-1 scoring run. Gillon hit all four of his free attempts on the day, giving him a school-record 47 consecutive free throws made.

Gillon followed his free throws with a 3-pointer and fellow graduate student Andrew White III hit a jumper to cap the run and cut the deficit to 11, 61-50, at the 9:06 mark. But that was as close as Syracuse could get as Louisville maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, eventually matching its largest lead of the contest, and recorded the 88-68 final.

The Orange shot 35.7 percent from the field (20-of-56), while the Cardinals hit 56.9 percent (33-of-58) of their attempts. Louisville out-rebounded Syracuse, 39-28 and had a 38-22 advantage in points in the paint. Donovan Mitchell led a group of four players in double digits in scoring for the Cardinals with a game-high 25 points.

Syracuse closes out the regular season on Saturday, March 4 when it hosts Georgia Tech at 4 p.m. on Senior Day. Tickets can be purchased online at Cuse.com, by phone at 1-888-DOME-TIX or in person at Gate B in the Carrier Dome.