Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Syracuse Orange

Louisville Cardinals (11-4, 6-3 ACC) at Syracuse Orange (12-6, 6-5 ACC)

- Tipoff: Wednesday, February 17th at 6:30 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: WKRD 790/WHAS 840
- Betting Favorite: To Be Determined
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 19-10
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 90-66 on Feb. 19, 2020 (KFC Yum! Center - Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

F Quinn Slazinski (6-8, 215, So.)
F Dre Davis (6-5, 220, Fr.)
C Jae'Lyn Withers (6-8, 215, R-Fr.)
G Carlik Jones (6-2, 185, Gr.)
G David Johnson (6-5, 210, So.)

Syracuse

F Quincy Guerrier (6-7, 220, So.)
F Marek Dolezaj (6-10, 201, Sr.)
G Alan Griffin (6-5, 190, Jr.)
G Joseph Girard III (6-1, 195, So.)
G Buddy Boeheim (6-6, 195, Jr.)

Main Storylines

Here are the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Louisville's matchup with Syracuse: Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Syracuse

Comparison

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

Game Notes

Louisville

After a 16-day break for COVID-related issues and having four games postponed, Louisville plays its second straight at home in the KFC Yum! Center.
In its last game on Feb. 1, Louisville beat Georgia Tech 74-58 in the KFC Yum! Center as two Cardinals produced double-doubles in David Johnson with 10 rebounds and a career-high 24 points, and Samuell Williamson with career-bests of 20 points and 18 rebounds.
UofL gathered a season-high 56 rebounds -- including 20 off the offensive glass -- the most by a UofL team in six years. The Orange (12-6, 6-5 ACC) have won three of their last four and five of their last seven, including a 75-67 home victory over Boston College on Feb. 13 in their last game.
Louisville has a 60-17 record in its conference home games over the last nine years (.779). UofL has the fourth-most conference home wins in its seven years in the ACC (45-14 home record).
Carlik Jones, named to The Sporting News MidSeason All-America team and the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List recently, ranks third in the ACC in scoring (17.4 ppg) and assists (4.9 apg). Jones has 97 career double-figure scoring efforts, including the last 37 consecutive games (all 14 at UofL). He needs four points for 1,800 in his career. Jones has collected 15 steals in the last seven games.
Louisville is 9-1 when outrebounding its opponent. UofL’s +7.2 rebounding advantage in conference games and its +6.1 margin on the season is second in the ACC. The Cardinals outrebounded Georgia Tech 56-39 on Monday.
David Johnson is the only player in the ACC among the top 25 in both rebounding (6.1, 21st in ACC) and assists (3.4, ninth in the ACC), adding 13.1 points per game. He has made 22-of-47 three-pointers in his last nine games (.468; 6-of-11 vs. Georgia Tech) and has made a team-leading 29-of-68 threes on the season (.426). He made just five threes as a freshman.
Samuell Williamson has averaged 11.0 points and 11.7 rebounds while shooting 60.9 percent from the field off the bench over the last three games, grabbing double-digit boards twice.
Louisville is among the top defensive teams in the ACC, leading the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.401) and ranking third in scoring defense (64.2 ppg) and second in three-point field goal defense (.309). UofL has held eight opponents below 40 percent accuracy from the field.
Louisville has won the rebounding battle in 10 games this year, including seven ACC games (56-39 advantage vs. Georgia Tech in its last game). Louisville is 9-1 in games when outrebounding its opponent. UofL’s +7.2 rebounding advantage in conference games is second in the ACC, and its +6.0 margin on the season is also second best. Louisville produced doubledigit rebounding margins in three ACC games (vs. Pitt, Boston College, Georgia Tech). The Cardinals tied a much taller Florida State team 35-35, and Miami is the only ACC team to beat UofL on the boards. Louisville has faced three of the nation’s five tallest teams in the KenPom analytics this season, winning two of those three matchups (beat 3 Seton Hall and 5 Kentucky, lost to 2 Florida State).
Louisville is among the top defensive teams in the ACC, ranking second in the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.401), third in scoring defense (64.2 ppg) and second in three-point field goal defense (.309). UofL held Duke, Georgia Tech and Pitt to their season-low scoring total and limited Clemson to its third-lowest. The Cardinals held Boston College (.333), Wake Forest (.368) and Georgia Tech (.324) to a season-low field goal percentage. UofL has limited its opponent to below 40 percent accuracy from the field on eight occasions this season (five under 35 percent). The Cardinals limited Kentucky to a season-low in scoring (59 points) and field goal percentage (.345). The Cardinals have held 13 ACC opponents under 60 points in Coach Chris Mack’s third season at Louisville (UofL is 11-2 in those games).
With about a month left in the regular season, Louisville has had seven ACC games postponed for COVIDrelated issues and has rescheduled just two of those (Feb. 1 vs. Georgia Tech, March 3 vs. Virginia Tech). The Cardinals have six scheduled conference games remaining prior to the ACC Tournament on March 9-13 and stand to miss five ACC games unless others are rescheduled.

Syracuse

The Orange (12-6, 6-5 ACC) have won three of their last four and five of their last seven, including a 75-67 home victory over Boston College on Feb. 13 in their last game as Joseph Girard’s 16 points led all five Syracuse starters in double figures. Louisville had made the trip to play Syracuse on Feb. 3, but the game was the first of four Cardinals games postponed for COVID-19 issues.
Syracuse is among the nation’s top 25 statistically in free throw percentage (.790, 8th in the nation), steals (9.2, 10th), blocked shots (4.9, 22nd), and personal fouls per game (14.7, 13th). The Orange, with all five starters averaging scoring in double figures, lead the ACC in steals and three-point field goal percentage defense (.297), and rank second in scoring offense (76.6), assists, blocked shots and free throw percentage. Syracuse is No. 47 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 52 in the NET rankings, No. 29 in ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) and No. 57 by Ken Pomeroy through Feb. 14.
Louisville leads 19-10 in its series vs. Syracuse, winning six of the last nine. In last year’s matchup, the Cardinals prevailed 90-66 (2-19-20) as UofL made 10-of-24 threes and held a 45-36 rebounding advantage. Five Cardinals scored in double figures, led by Jordan Nwora’s 17 points, while Malik Williams produced his fifth career double-double (14 pts.,13 reb.).
UofL twice beat Syracuse in the championship game of the Big East Tournament (2009, 2013).

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