By Dalton Ray–
Traveling to Syracuse, New York, the eighth-ranked men’s basketball (21-5, 9-4) team survives an overtime thriller against the Orange (16-11, 8-6).
Winning 76-72, the Cardinals used big plays down the stretch by junior Jaylen Johnson and redshirt freshman Ryan McMahon to win. Johnson ended with 10 points and seven rebounds while McMahon added seven points, all in overtime.
Sophomore Donovan Mitchell lead the Cardinals with 16 points but fouled out with a minute remaining in the second half. Juniors Quentin Snider and Anas Mahmoud combined for 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
In the opening minutes, the Cardinal defense cause bogged down the Orange by staying in front and switching. Syracuse struggled to move the ball and played into Louisville’s hands by shooting long distance shots.
Staying more active on the offensive end, Louisville took a 28-14 lead with 15 minutes into the first half. Snider added 11 points in the span.
Syracuse’s offensive flow began to pick up during the final five minutes of the half, finishing on an 11-1 run. Swinging momentum, Syracuse trailed 29-25.
In the second half, Louisville opened the lead back up to seven but Syracuse quickly pulled back into the game. Going back and forth over the next six minutes, Syracuse gained their first lead at 45-43 with nine minutes with the three by Tyler London.
Mitchell began to take over during the next five minutes, pushing the U of L lead back to seven minutes with three minutes to play. Mitchell fouled out with 75 seconds to play, forcing the Cardinals to look elsewhere offensively.
Syracuse appeared to run out of gas down the stretch but late 3-pointers sparked new life in the Orange. With 37 seconds left, John Gillon tied the game for Syracuse at 58 with a three off a U of L turnover.
Sophomore Deng Adel missed two free throws with 18 seconds to play, giving Syracuse a chance to win with time running down. Gillon turned the ball over with three seconds remaining, leading to overtime.
In extra minutes, McMahon knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 61. After Syracuse hit a pair of free throws, McMahon grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball in knotting the game back up.
With two minutes to play, Anas Mahmoud pushed the Louisville lead to three. Syracuse missed six straight shots and committed two turnovers, allowing Louisville to extend their lead to seven.
Just like the end of the second half, Syracuse used 3-pointers to claw back in. Two threes in the final minute made the game 74-72.
A pair of missed free throws by Johnson gave Syracuse a chance to take a late lead, but missed two free throws of their own with three seconds remaining spurred the opportunity. McMahon put a bow on the victory with a pair of free throws with a second on the clock.
