Battle, Howard Power Orange Past Cardinals

Monday, February 5

Louisville, KY

7 PM

Syracuse University

16-8,5-6

Louisville

16-8,6-5

Syracuse

LOUISVILLE

Photo by: David Gunn

2/5/2018 9:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Sophomore Tyus Battle and junior Frank Howard each eclipsed 20 points to lead Syracuse (16-8, 5-6 ACC) to a 78-73 win over Louisville (16-8, 6-5 ACC) Monday night at the KFC Yum! Center. The Orange snap a two-game skid with the victory.

Battle finished with 25 points and went 11-of-11 from the charity stripe. Howard added 22 points with five rebounds and freshman Oshae Brissett totaled 16 points and eight boards.

How it was Decided
Howard knocked down a free throw to give Syracuse a 74-70 lead with 25 seconds remaining. The Orange forced a turnover on the ensuing Cardinals possession and Battle went 4-of-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to cement the victory.

Game Summary
An 8-0 run gave Syracuse a 17-15 lead midway through the first half. Howard knocked down a 3-pointer and Battle converted a 3-point play along with two fouls shots. Ray Spalding answered with a 3-point play of his own to help Louisville regain the lead but Brissett dunked on the next possession to pull the Orange back ahead.

Paschal Chukwu dunked and Battle added a jumper to give Syracuse a 31-24 lead with 5:22 to play in the half. A 6-0 run, fueled by a Marek Dolezaj jumper and four points from Battle, extended the Orange lead to 10. The Cardinals knocked down a trey at the buzzer to cut the Syracuse advantage to six at halftime.

With Syracuse clinging to a four-point lead early in the second half, Battle knocked down a jumper and Matthew Moyer added a layup to extend the lead to eight. The Cardinals made a dunk but Battle hit another jumper and Chukwu made a put-back layup to give the Orange a 56-46 lead with 12:27 remaining.

An 8-0 Louisville run trimmed the Syracuse lead to two with 4:05 to go. Brissett made two foul shots and Battle drained a step-back jumper to give the Orange a 71-65 lead. Two free throws by the Cardinals trimmed the deficit back to four. Dolezaj made a tip-in to extend the Syracuse lead back to six and Louisville knocked down a trey to make the score 73-70 with 27 seconds to go.

Numbers of Note
Syracuse shot 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the field and 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from 3-point range. It was the Orange's best shooting performance since a Jan. 24 victory against Boston College.

Louisville finished the game shooting 46.2 percent (24-of-52) from the floor and 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from beyond the arc.

The Orange had not held a lead for two straight games. A first-half free-throw by Battle with 11:52 to go before the break broke that streak.

Battle and Howard each finished the game shooting 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the floor. Battle knocked down 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Spalding led the Cardinals with 18 points and nine rebounds. Deng Adel added 10 points, eight boards and five assists.

What's Next
Syracuse returns home to face Wake Forest on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Tickets for all Orange home games are available online at Cuse.com, by phone at 1-888-DOMETIX, or in person at Gate B at the Carrier Dome.