Syracuse students agree: Beating Louisville would make everyone feel better.
Syracuse is coming off a very frustrating loss in the Carrier Dome to rival Georgetown. While Syracuse led for a good portion of the second half, the Orange failed to gain a field goal in the last six and a half minutes. That, plus stunned and confused defense, resulted in a stunning and unnecessary loss for Syracuse. Turning to this game, first thing's first; KFC Yum! Center? Ridiculous. That being said, Louisville has won the last six games versus the Orange, including two wins last season, both at the now closed Freedom Hall and in the Carrier Dome. But this is a new season like all of them, and Syracuse has to go into a brand new building. Louisville is getting two injured players back in Rakeem Buckles and Gorgui Dieng, who have sat out the last few games. L'ville's leading scorer is guard Preston Knowles, averaging 14.8ppg and shooting 39.2% from behind the arc. This is another game where Syracuse will have the edge on the inside as Rick Jackson is a monster in the post. If he manages to avoid fouls, he will be a huge factor in this game not only as a scorer, but as the league's best rebounder. Louisville has a boost in the post with Buckles returning, their team's leading rebounder, but the rebounding edge should belong to Syracuse. If that is the case, Syracuse will have a chance in this game. Honestly, if this game were in the Carrier Dome I might give the edge to Syracuse, but because this is at Louisville, and with the scoring woes of Syracuse as of late, I have to give this game to Louisville, especially with the recent history between the schools. The worst part is Pitino gets a lot of credit for being a better coach in terms of busing the zone. However, last season Louisville beat Syracuse with outside shooting. Not exactly a zone buster, simply just playing into the weakness of the zone. Louisville does not have the same outside shooting as this season with all the talent they lost, but they should do just enough because Syracuse is not as prolific an offense, to win this game. Truly this game is a coin flip, but because any game is tough to win on the road in the league I'll give this to Louisville by seven.
Labels: Basketball, Big East, Louisville Sucks
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