The University of Louisville will travel to Syracuse, NY Wednesday night to face off against the Jim Boeheim led Syracuse Orange in the Carrier Dome. SU and Louisville both have 4 conference losses and Wednesday night’s game is a contest that may ultimately decide seeding arrangements in the upcoming ACC Tournament next month. Syracuse opened as a -1 favorite over the Cards.

The Orange (17-8, 8-4) have had some inconsistent play with some really A+ level wins and some head scratching losses. Syracuse has wins over Ohio State, Georgetown, and Duke mixed in with losses from UCONN, Oregon, Old Dominion, Buffalo, Georgia Tech (how in the hell?), Virginia Tech, Florida State and NC State.

Tyus Battle is Syracuse’s engine and has great complimentary players around him. The Orange make a living creating turnovers and turning those TOs into points out of Jim Boeheim’s famous 2-3 zone. It is interesting to see how low of a shooting % Syracuse currently has considering how often they create fast break opportunities. It’s even more interesting to note that the Orange actually have a rebound rate less than 50% despite being a team with a size advantage over most teams that it plays.

This is a game that Louisville needs to win. How UofL attacks that 2-3 zone, limits turnovers, rebounds the ball will determine the outcome. It will be interesting to watch if CC continues to be UofL’s operator in the center of the zone like he was against Duke or if Chris Mack utilizes another player in that role. Also this will be a game where Syracuse will attempt to feed on frustration and coming out of a frustrating stretch of games for UofL how likely is SU’s style going to affect this game? We’ll find out. Roommate Tom (Tom Farmer) will be by later with a more robust preview. To the stats:

LouisvilleSyracuse
Strength of Schedule (Ken Pom)10th53rd
PPG77.4 (57th)70.0 (233rd)
Avg Scoring Margin9.3 (33rd)5.7 (68th)
Field Goal %45.2% (114th)42.5% (257th)
Effective FG%53.0% (84th)49.4% (238th)
2-pt FG %51.9% (117th)50.2% (182nd)
3-pt FG %36.3% (84th)32.2% (274th)
FT %76.9% (10th)68.1% (269th)
Team Fouls Per Game17.6 (133rd)17.3 (108th)
Opp Team Fouls Per Game20.8 (17th)18.8 (124th)
FT Attempted Per Game22.2 (53rd)21.4 (74th)
Opp FT Attempted Per Game19.0 (168th)18.2 (119th)
Opp Shooting %41.0% (38th)39.8% (18th)
Opp Effective FG%46.9% (28th)47.3% (38th)
Opp 2-pt FG %45.9% (31st)47.5% (66th)
Opp 3-Pt FG %32.4% (78th)31.4% (44th)
Rebound Rate52.4% (65th)49.3% (208th)
Assists Per Game13.9 (109th)12.2 (250th)
Turnovers Per Game13.0 (150th)12.4 (100th)
Blocks Per Game3.0 (188th)4.9 (18th)
Steals Per Game4.9 (307th)8.1 (19th)
Opp Turnovers Per Game12.8 (199th)16.0 (18th)
Opp Blocks Per Game3.3 (178th)3.0 (102nd)
Opp Steals Per Game6.1 (163rd)6.2 (175th)
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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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