Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Syracuse Orange

The Cardinals kick off a three-game home stand to end the regular season with a rematch against the Orange.

Syracuse Orange (19-10, 10-8 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (8-20, 3-14 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, March 2 at 8:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Syracuse -6.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 19-13
- Last Meeting: Syracuse won 94-92 on Feb. 7, 2024 (JMA Wireless Dome - Syracuse, N.Y.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Skyy Clark (6-3, 205, So.)
• G Tre White (6-7, 205, So.)
• G/F Mike James (6-5, 200, R-So.)
• F Kaleb Glenn (6-6, 205, Fr.)
• F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 240, Jr.)

Syracuse

• G Judah Mintz (6-4, 185, So.)
• G J.J Starling (6-4, 206, So.)
• G Justin Taylor (6-6, 218, So.)
• F Chris Bell (6-7, 188, So.)
• F Maliq Brown (6-8, 222, So.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Orange, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Syracuse

Game Notes

Louisville

• Last time out: Louisville suffered their fourth-straight blowout loss, falling 84-59 at Duke to secure back-to-back 20-loss seasons for the first time in program history.
• KEY FIRST HALF RUN: Louisville was holding on to the Blue Devils and was within four with nine minutes to play. Duke proceeded to go on a 16-4 run to create a 16-point lead. The Cardinals were down 36-23 heading into halftime.
• KEY SECOND HALF RUN: Louisville would come as close as 14 three times in the second half, but never got over the hump.
• UofL shot 23 of 56 (41.4%) from the field, 3 of 17 (17.6%) from 3-point range and 10 of 19 (52.6%) from the free-throw line.
• Mike James filled his stat line with eight points, six rebounds, one assist and a steal in 30 minutes.
• Brandon Huntley-Hatfield records his seventh double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 boards on the night. He also logged a block and a single steal in 34 minutes.
• Tre White led the Cardinals in scoring with 15 points on 7 of 11 shooting. He also added three boards and an assist.
• Ty-Laur Johnson joined in the double-figure scoring with 11 points. He dished out four assists against zero turnovers and had three steals.
• This is the first time Louisville has finished the regular season with at least three straight home games since 1992-93. The Cardinals haven’t had two straight home games to end the regular season since 2014-15.
• Over the last seven games, junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 17.1 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 56.6% from the field (47 of 83). He has seven double-doubles this season after recording just two double-doubles in the first 68 games of his career.
• Sophomore guard Skyy Clark has missed three of the last seven games due to a hip pointer and most recently a broken rib. In the four games he’s played during that span, he’s averaged 15.5 points per game while shooting 51% from the field and 50% from 3-point range (10 of 20).
• Guard Ty-Laur Johnson’s 100 assists are the seventh-most ever by a Louisville freshman. Johnson is one of four Louisville freshmen since 1992 to record at least 90 assists in a season, joining current team Video Coordinator Reece Gaines (1999-00), DeJuan Wheat (1993-94) and Jason Osborne (1993-94), the father of senior forward JJ Traynor. Over the last seven games, he’s averaging 12.0 points, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals per outing.
• UofL is one of two teams in the nation, along with New Mexico, with five different players who have scored at least 26 points in a game this season – Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (29), Tre White (29), Skyy Clark (29), Ty-Laur Johnson (27) and Mike James (26).

Syracuse

• The Orange beat Virginia Tech on Tuesday, 84-71, for its third straight triumph.
• Syracuse is 5-3 in the month of February. Sophomore guard Judah Mintz has averaged a club-best 19.0 points per game in the month.
• Sophomore forward Chris Bell, who tallied 30 points the last time these two squads met, is 30-of-62 (.484) on 3-point tries over eight February tilts.
• Syracuse closed out the home portion of its regular season with a 14-2 record at the JMA Wireless Dome.
• Judah Mintz has scored in double digits in 27- of-29 contests.
• Maliq Brown (2.21 spg.) and Judah Mintz (2.17 spg.) rank first and second in ACC steals average.
• Feb. 27: Judah Mintz contributed 29 points, six assists and three steals, and the Orange defeated Virginia Tech, 84-71. J.J. Mintz had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists and Maliq Brown posted 12 points and eight rebounds in the victory.
• Feb. 24: Judah Mintz tallied 21 points to lead five players in double figures and the Orange defeated Notre Dame on "Jim Boeheim Day," 88-85. The Orange led by as many as 29 during the game and held off the Irish in the final minutes. Chris Bell had 18 points, converting six-of-eight from the field, including 4-of-5 of his 3-point tries.
• Feb. 20: Chris Bell scored all 26 of his points in the first half and the Orange earned a regular-season sweep of NC State by winning in Raleigh, 87-83. Bell made his first eight 3-point attempts and added two free throws in the opening period. Quadir Copeland contributed a career-high 25 points and clinched the win with two free throws with 16 seconds left. Judah Mintz added 15 points and became the 66th Syracuse player to score 1,000 career points.
• Feb. 17: The Orange came back from a 10-point, second-half deficit to tie, but ultimately fell at Georgia Tech, 65-60. The Yellow Jackets scored eight of the last 11 points to win. J.J. Starling (18 points) and Judah Mintz (14) scored in double digits for the Orange. Maliq Brown had a club-best eight rebounds and five steals.
• Feb. 13: Syracuse’s backcourt of Judah Mintz (25 points) and J.J. Starling (23 points) combined for 48 points and the Orange upset #7/5 North Carolina, 86-79. The triumph was the Orange’s first against a top 10 team since 2019. Syracuse shot a season-best .625 from the field. Maliq Brown and Chris Bell rounded out Syracuse’s double-digit scorers with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
• Feb. 10: Syracuse battled back from a 15-point deficit to tie but Clemson closed the game with a 17-8 run to win, 77-68. Chris Bell and J.J. Starling each had 16 points, Judah Mintz had 14 points.
• Feb. 7: Quadir Copeland’s layup with five seconds left counted on a goaltending call and the Orange edged Louisville, 94-92. Syracuse shot a season-best .608 from the field (31-of-51) in the triumph.
• Chris Bell had a career-high 30 points and eight 3-pointers. Judah Mintz had 21 points and J.J. Starling added 19 points.
• Malik Brown had a loaded stat line -- 11 points, 9 rebounds, and career bests in assists (5), blocked shots (6) and steals (5).
• Feb. 3: Wake Forest shot 35-of-53 (.660) from the field, including 12-of-19 (.632) on 3-point attempts, and defeated visiting Syracuse, 99-70. The Orange never led.
• J.J. Starling (15 points), Judah Mintz (13 points), Quadir Copeland (11 points), and Justin Taylor (10 points) posted doubledigit point totals

(Photo of Ty-Laur Johnson: Mark Konezny - USA TODAY Sports)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter