Louisville vs. Syracuse: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

It was Christmas in February in Syracuse on Wednesday evening as the Syracuse Orange handled the Louisville Cardinals to the tune of 69-59.

The brilliance of Rakeem Christmas was the story, as the senior finished with a dominating 29 points, eight rebounds, four blocks, two steals and an assist. He controlled the pace of the second half and had his way down low with a Cardinals squad that dealt with foul trouble down the stretch.

Michael Gbinije helped Christmas out with 18 points, and Tyler Roberson chipped in 13, but Christmas carried the team on his back in the closing minutes.

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Terry Rozier spearheaded the Louisville attack with 17 points, while Montrezl Harrell added 15 down low for the Cardinals.

ESPN Stats & Info set the stage for this game by pointing out the two biggest stars coming in were the Hall of Fame coaches:

The game may have been in Syracuse, but it was Louisville that set the tempo early and jumped out to a 19-12 lead in the first eight minutes. Eric Crawford of WDRB in Louisville broke down the hot shooting, while Howie Lindsey of CardinalSports.com noted that the game wasn't exactly following the defensive-slugfest script many expected:

However, the Orange breathed some life into the crowd with an extended run to take a 22-21 lead. It wasn't all good news for Jim Boeheim's team, though, as Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal acknowledged:

With Christmas sitting on the bench with foul trouble, the Cardinals once again seized control of the first-half proceedings and took a 28-24 lead into the under-four-minute timeout. Mike Waters of Syracuse.com and Donna Ditota of The Post-Standard both recognized that the Orange were having trouble getting back on defense:

The teams traded baskets, and Louisville went into halftime with a 32-28 lead. Greer noted that the Cardinals would probably have a bigger lead at intermission given their shooting numbers if they took better care of the ball:

Louisville coach Rick Pitino was particularly worried that Syracuse's defense was going to be a problem for his offense before the game started, via Greer: "Syracuse has always been a tough place to play for anybody. Because of their zone—we're not a great pass-and-catch team. I was overly concerned with their defense."

Both teams were led by individual contributors out of the locker room. Brent Axe of Syracuse.com and Waters both praised Harrell, as Louisville jumped out to a 35-28 advantage, but Syracuse Basketball noted that Gbinije willed the Orange back into it with some long-range shooting:

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Gbinije hits a 3 from the corner! SU back within 1, 15:55 2nd half. Mike has 13 points & is 3-of-6 from deep. pic.twitter.com/mJjaKRRw3T

— Syracuse Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) February 19, 2015"

Things took a turn for the worse for Louisville a few minutes into the second half when Wayne Blackshear picked up his fourth foul. Greer wasn't exactly impressed by the stat line:

Foul trouble became a serious issue for the Cardinals when Harrell picked up his third with more than 11 minutes remaining. Waters described the play, while Crawford pointed out that the Orange should pound it down low after the latest development:

Syracuse took Crawford's advice, and Christmas gave his team a 51-47 lead with less than nine minutes remaining with a beautiful and-one and then a dunk in transition. Syracuse Basketball passed along Christmas' impressive point total before crunch time:

Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports offered his take on why Louisville was struggling. The problem was, Harrell picked up his fourth foul heading into the under-eight-minute timeout, but Pitino left both Harrell and Blackshear on the floor with four fouls each:

That strategy did not pay off, at least in Blackshear's case, as he fouled out with more than five minutes left. The final foul came on an ill-advised moving screen on the offensive end, and the Orange responded by feeding Christmas underneath to stretch the lead to 58-52. 

Crawford passed along Blackshear's invisible stat line, while ESPN Stats & Info put it into historical perspective:

Blackshear or not, Christmas was the bane of Louisville on this night. Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv and NBA.com praised the senior for his play down the stretch, and ESPN Stats & Info noted that the Orange were much more effective under the basket in the second half:

Christmas' brilliance helped the Orange build a 60-54 lead with under three minutes remaining. However, it was Kaleb Joseph who made a crucial shot in the lane to put his team up, 62-54, with 1:38 left in the game. It felt like a dagger, and Waters detailed the action:

Louisville closed the gap to 65-59 in the final minute, but Syracuse sealed the deal with clutch free-throw shooting. It walked away with a 10-point victory that probably meant even more to the fans and players given the postseason ban hanging over the program.

These games against ranked teams in the ACC to wrap up the regular season are Syracuse's version of the tournament.

What's Next?

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Louisville returns home Saturday after the loss for a game against a dangerous Miami squad that already beat Duke and took Virginia to double-overtime earlier this year. The Hurricanes are not safely in the NCAA tournament field yet, so they will certainly come out ready to play with a chance to add a marquee road win to their resume. The Cardinals can expect to be tested.

As for victorious Syracuse, the Orange stay home to play former Big East and current ACC rival Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Panthers already knocked off the Orange once this season, although that was in Pittsburgh, so Syracuse will be looking for some revenge in the comfort of the Carrier Dome.

For now, though, it will enjoy Wednesday's dramatic victory.