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After defeating Boston College for its first road win of the season, Syracuse returns to the JMA Wireless Dome to face Louisville Tuesday. The Orange used a strong second-half push to defeat BC and claim its second Atlantic Coast Conference win of the season. SU outscored the Eagles 33-17 across the final eight minutes, led by 26 points from J.J. Starling.

Starling’s return has proved key for SU, helping it win back-to-back games for the first time since November. The Orange look to make it three straight against Louisville, which has won six straight games dating back to Dec. 21. The Cardinals boast the co-second-best record in the ACC with their lone loss coming to Duke.

Here’s how our beat writers feel Syracuse (8-8, 2-3 ACC) will fare against Louisville (12-5, 5-1 ACC):

Zak Wolf (14-2)
Death by a thousand 3s
Syracuse 72, Louisville 82

Syracuse’s wins over Georgia Tech and Boston College weren’t the prettiest in the world, but it got the job done. This will be a different test. Louisville is the hottest team in the ACC not named Duke, winning six straight conference matchups. After an up-and-down start, the Cardinals have started hitting their stride under first-year head coach Pat Kelsey.

Louisville is one of the most intriguing offensive teams in the country. It’s shot the most 3s in the ACC (529) but has the third-lowest percentage (30.2%) as well. The Cardinals hit 57.2% of their 2-pointers, but according to KenPom, are 340th in the nation in 2-point attempts. Does this bode well for Syracuse? I can’t give a definitive answer, but I would say no. The sheer volume of Louisville’s 3-pointers means that even if it’s inefficient, it shoots enough to create problems for the Orange.

As we’ve repeated over and over this season, Syracuse doesn’t have much firepower on offense. Starling is SU’s driving force, but he’s faced with the tough task of scoring on Chucky Hepburn. The Wisconsin transfer leads the ACC in steals with 2.6 and is an elite defender. I don’t think Starling will be completely taken out of the game but he’ll be slowed down enough, while Syracuse’s supporting cast will fall flat.

Aiden Stepansky (15-1)
Back to reality
Syracuse 69, Louisville 78

Syracuse’s two-game winning streak has been an exciting excursion away from its previous ACC struggles. It’s been apparent Starling’s return has shaped the Orange into virtually a different team offensively, where they occasionally turn into a “give J.J. the rock and get out of the way” offense.

The two wins were an adequate bounceback from SU’s 0-3 start-to-conference play. It’s important, however, to note that GT and BC have a combined 3-8 record in the ACC thus far, with one of those being the Yellow Jackets win over the Eagles. It’s time for the Orange to move back to reality.

Louisville poses a much larger threat than Syracuse’s previous two opponents, starting conference play at a nearly-perfect 5-1. The Cardinals have defeated close competition like North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Clemson but have also taken care of their lesser conference opponents with ease. The Orange will add to the list of lesser opponents.

SU can keep it close until a few minutes are left if it plays its cards right, but relying on Starling to spark a late victory likely won’t work against Louisville’s defense, which has allowed just 70.2 points per game. It’ll be back to the drawing board for the Orange after this one.

Justin Girshon (13-3)
All about the birds
Syracuse 73, Louisville 80

Last week was head coach Adrian Autry’s best week so far in his second year at the helm. Instead of barely squeaking by low-tier nonconference opponents at home, the Orange notched their first conference win over Georgia Tech and followed that up with a road victory over Boston College.

The biggest difference between last week and previous weeks was Starling’s presence. Syracuse becomes a completely different team with its best player on the court. Shifting Starling to point guard and reducing Jaquan Carlos’ minutes helps ensure the team’s best players are on the floor.

While SU is figuring out how to win and seeing what works best, defeating Louisville is a tall task. As Zak alluded to above, the Cardinals are the hottest non-Duke team in the ACC. I believe they’re probably the second-best team in the conference when the season is all said and done, too.

One of the biggest advantages a college basketball team can have is rostering an experienced and good guard. So, after a disappointing 2023-24 season, Kelsey arrived and brought in four experienced guards from the transfer portal — Hepburn, Reyne Smith, Terrence Edwards Jr. and J’Vonne Hadley.

Against the Orange, I see the group heading into the JMA Wireless Dome and winning their seventh straight game.

Published on January 13, 2025 at 9:13 pm