ORANGE SQUEEZED BY LOUISVILLE

Cards' defense, rebounding too much for SU in 67-57 loss

January 25, 2009


The top four teams in the Big East seem to be separating themselves from the pack. On Saturday we saw Marquette get past DePaul to move to 6-0 in the conference and Connecticut ended the Notre Dame 45-game home win streak to improve to 7-1 in the Big East.

On Sunday Louisville and Pittsburgh hit the road to try and stake their claim among the conference title contenders as we near the halfway mark of conference play.


Over 25,000 fans, mostly clad in Orange, were on hand in the Carrier Dome Sunday afternoon to root their Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team to victory. Unfortunately the home crowd had to exit the Carrier Dome doors into the bitter January air of central New York disappointed as Syracuse Losses to Louisville as Cards Squeeze the Orange (Post-Standard), 67-57.

Syracuse, losing for the third time in four games, falls to 5-3 in the Big East (17-4 overall). The Cards matched Marquette’s 6-0 Big East start with their seventh win overall and are now 15-3 on the season.

Louisville Makes Mark on the Glass (Post-Standard) by grabbing 21 offensive rebounds, but none bigger than the Earl Clark offensive board that preceded his three-pointer to give UL a 57-55 lead with 2:15 left in the game. Clark finished the game with a team-high 16 points, game-high 13 rebounds and added 5 assists to his stat line (we’ll overlook the seven turnovers).

On a day when SU could not find their range from the floor (35% shooting), they were forced to play the last 7:17 without their top perimeter threat as Andy Rautins Goes Down With Another Injury (Post-Standard) and was spotted on crutches with an apparent ankle sprain following the game. Rautins was just one of seven (3 points) in 28 minutes before being injured.

The Cards led by as many as ten, 30-20, in the first half and took a 38-33 lead into halftime. Throughout the second half they held the lead and turned back each and every run by the Orange. However, an Eric Devendorf (game-high 20 points) three-pointer with 2:24 remaining gave the Orange a 55-54 lead. Clark answered with his second-chance three that ignited a game-finishing 13-2 run to close the game to keep the Cards undefeated in Big East play.

Terrence Williams added 15 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals for Louisville. Edgar Sosa scored 13 and did not turn the ball over once all game. A nice lift was also provided by freshman Terrence Jennings who scored 9 points and grabbed 5 boards and blocked 2 shots in 18 minutes off the bench.

Besides Devendorf’s 20, SU got a quiet 12 from Jonny Flynn and 11 points and 9 rebounds from Arinze Onuaku.

Both the Orange and Cards are back in action on Wednesday night with SU travelling to play Providence while UL will host South Florida.