Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) - Luke Hancock's third 3-pointer of the second
half put Louisville ahead to stay in the final minute and the 10th-ranked
Cardinals pulled out a 58-53 win over No. 12 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
Hancock hit four from beyond the arc overall and finished with 12 points for
Louisville (24-5, 12-4 Big East), which has won five straight and avenged a
70-68 home loss to Syracuse in January.
Louisville was No. 1 when the Orange scored the final four points to steal
that game. This time, the Cardinals took it from Syracuse (22-7, 10-6) in the
final minute.
Hancock drilled a three from the left wing with 53 seconds left to snap a
48-48 tie and the Orange couldn't answer.
Michael Carter-Williams, who led Syracuse's charge back from a seven-point
deficit, missed badly on a 3-point try and Russ Smith hit two from the line to
extend the Louisville lead to five. The Orange then turned it over and Kevin
Ware made a free throw with 23 seconds to play.
Brandon Triche canned two from the line with 16 seconds left to pull Syracuse
within four and the Orange nearly came up with a steal on the inbound pass but
lost the ball out of bounds. Louisville successfully inbounded the ball and
Ware made two more free throws to restore a six-point margin before C.J. Fair
drained a three with seven seconds remaining.
Smith was fouled with 3.4 seconds to play and calmly sank two from the stripe
to seal it.
Fair scored 19 points to lead Syracuse, which has lost three in a row for the
first time since a four-game skid from Jan. 17-29, 2011. The Orange have also
dropped two straight at the Carrier Dome after having their 38-game home
winning streak stopped last Saturday with a loss to Georgetown.
The Sports Network