Syracuse students agree: We beat them on the road so we need to win at home.
Louisville was #1 in the nation when Syracuse went down to Kentucky and beat the Cards by two points on their own court. Since then they had a little bit of a skid. Then again, so has Syracuse. However, I think we've learned a few things since that Louisville game. With Syracuse, CJ Fair will be solid and the team rises and falls with Brandon Triche. If he is having a poor shooting day, Syracuse has a rough go on offense. If Triche is hitting shots, then Syracuse has a much higher likelihood of the team being successful. With Louisville, Russ Smith will be solid on the scoring end. The question is will someone else step up to help him with the scoring? Smith (18.4ppg) was easily considered in the conversation for Big East POY before Otto Porter has clearly established himself as the frontrunner. He will score, as he did against Syracuse in the last game. What Syracuse did extremely well in that game is limit Gorgui Dieng (as Syracuse always has) and keep Chane Behanan to single digit scoring. The Syracuse defense worked hard and, as we all know, the defense is not losing games for this year's team. Syracuse basically stole the game down in KY by a couple timely steals and a dunk. Syracuse will again have a close game with Louisville. James Southerland is back and will be able to shoot some 3s from outside, which Syracuse missed in the last game. If this game was again at Louisville I'd pick the Cardinals again, but this is in the Carrier Dome. James Southerland is back and you have to assume that Triche will again find success against Louisville. The Louisville press defense really wasn't effective in stopping the Orange. If MCW limits turnovers Syracuse should get a nice lead and hold it, even if Louisville makes a run to close out the game. Syracuse also outrebounded Louisville so if they do that again and keep Louisville off the offensive glass, this should be another nice Syracuse win. I'm picking the Orange by 12. This game will be available nationally on CBS at 12:00pm ET.
Labels: Basketball, Big East, Louisville Sucks, Preview
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