Rally Comes Up Short, Louisville Falls to Syracuse for Fifth-Straight Loss

The Cardinals have lost by an average margin of 18.4 points during their losing streak.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kicking off a three-game home stand to cap off the regular season, the Louisville men's basketball program was almost able to avenge their narrow loss to Syracuse from last month, but their comeback effort fell short and resulted in a 82-76 loss in the rematch on Saturday night at the KFC Yum! Center.

Trailing by 19 points with 12:58 left, the Cardinals (8-21, 3-15 ACC) then responded with a 10-0 run to get within single digits of the Orange (20-10, 11-8 ACC), and got as close as four points with 39 seconds to go.

However, Louisville would miss their next two shots - both three-point attempts from Curtis Williams - while Syracuse added a quartet of free throws. Ty-Laur Johnson notched an uncontested layup as time expired, but it was too little, too late.

Louisville is now on a five-game losing streak with their loss to Syracuse, losing by an average margin of 18.4 points during this span. Louisville fell 94-92 at the JMA Wireless Dome in their first match against Syracuse back on Feb. 7. The loss also clinches the No. 15 seed for the ACC Tournament for the second-straight year.

While Louisville out-rebounded Syracuse (34-to-31), committed one less turnover (13-to-14) and did better at the free throw line (80.0 percent to 64.1 percent), the game simply came down to making shots.

A common theme during the Cardinals' losing streak has been a lack of effort on the defensive end, and it was no different against the Orange. Louisville allowed Syracuse to shoot 57.8 percent from the field and 5-of-8 on three-point attempts. Meanwhile, UofL struggled to get things going offensively for the most part, making just 43.8 percent of their attempts and going 4-of-19 on threes.

Louisville had four players crack double figures in scoring led by an 18-point effort from Mike James. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield had a 17-point and 11-rebound double double, Kaleb Glenn added 15 points, and Tre White poured in 12 points.

All five of Syracuse's starters scored in double figures, led by a game-high 23 points from Chris Bell, who had a career-high 30 points in the first Louisville-Syracuse showdown.

Louisville's defense actually looked solid in the opening segment of the game. They forced three turnovers in the first four-plus minutes of the game, and held Syracuse to just three field goals during that span with just one make.

However, their offense kept them from generating early separation right out of the gate. The Cardinals missed their first five shots of the game, and went just 13-for-35 in the half overall. After holding an early two point lead in the opening segment, the Orange fired off a 9-2 run to take control of the half.

It was a back-and-forth affair through most of the half, but Cuse was able to put some distance between them and UofL in the half's final few minutes. They ended the half on a 10-2 run, including a dunk out of a timeout with 5.1 seconds left to put Louisville down 39-28 at halftime. Even after the solid start defensively, the Cards still allowed the Orange to shoot 15-of-24 for the period.

In the second half, Louisville had a much better offensive showing. They shot 15-of-29 for the period and hit seven of their first 11 shots of the half, using it to trim their deficit to as little as five points with 12:58 to go.

On the other hand, their defense took a significant step backwards after halftime. The Cardinals allowed Syracuse to shoot 11-of-21 in the second half, including a stretch of seven straight makes to put together a 12-0 run and take control of the game before UofL's late comeback attempt.

Next up, Louisville will continue their three-game home stand with a rematch against Virginia Tech. Tip-off against the Hokies is scheduled for Tuesday, Mar. 5 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Ty-Laur Johnson: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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