The Syracuse Orange came into the Dome to face the Louisville Cardinals almost an exact two years to the last time these two teams met in Central New York, with the Orange having defeated the Cardinals in Syracuse, New York, 92-69 back on February 5, 2022.
On that roster was Benny Williams.
Prior to this game, Syracuse University announced that Williams was dismissed from the program, leaving Syracuse without someone who has rotated in at center as well as played forward, and has elevated his play from two years ago to this season.
The Cardinals came into this contest with a 7-15 overall record, including at 2-9 start in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), placing them 14th of 15 ACC schools. Louisville's lone two wins in the ACC were on the road against the Miami Hurricanes ,80-71, and after losing six in a row, they defeated the Florida State Seminoles 101-92 at home at the Yum! Center in Kentucky.
Conversely, the Orange entered this match-up with a 14-8 overall record, 5-6 in the ACC, putting them four spots ahead of the Cardinals, at 10th among 15 schools in the conference.
All-time, Louisville has led the series 19-12, but Syracuse has won the last two and four of the last five between the Orange and the Cardinals.
After taking the early lead 2-0, Syracuse regained it at 13-11 with 13:56 left in the first half.
But Louisville would respond with an 8-3 run to retake the lead 19-16 at the 11:45 mark.
Sophomore forward Chris Bell was the first player on either side to attain double-digits in points, getting to 10 for the Orange on a layup that gave the Orange a 25-22 lead with 8:39 left before halftime.
At the media timeout with 6:11 before half, there have been eight lead changes and three ties.
Syracuse would head into their locker room ahead 49-45 at the half.
There were eight lead changes and six ties in the first 20 minutes of play.
Orange fans in the Dome got to sit down at the 17:32 mark of the second half thanks to a three by Bell being the first field goal of the half.
Bell's sixth deep make of the night would gain the lead for Syracuse at 58-57. With this three-pointer, Bell was 6-for-8 from beyond the arc with 15:07 to go.
After eight lead changes coming in the first half, both teams combined for nine lead changes in the second half with over 10 minutes left in that half of play.
Down 76-72, the Orange went on a 7-3 run to tie the game at 79-apiece at the 4:39 mark.
Exactly 30 seconds later, sophomore guard J.J. Starling went for the ball on defense and was fouled. He would make both free throws in his 1-&-1 attempt to roll the Orange ahead 81-79.
Louisville freshman guard Ty-Laur Johnson fouled out with 2:25 to play, sending Starling to the line for three shots, of which he made them all, giving Syracuse an 87-81 lead.
Sophomore guard Skyy Clark would respond with an old-fashioned three-point play, connecting on his jumper and the following free throw after a foul by sophomore forward Maliq Brown, bringing the game to one possession, 87-84 Syracuse, with 1:31 left on the game clock.
Clark would connect from long distance to bring the Cardinals within one, 87-88, with 1:09 remaining.
Bell would respond immediately, pump-faking and taking an open three, raising the Syracuse lead to 91-87, giving Bell an 8-for-10 outing from long range.
With 14 seconds to go, sophomore guard Quadir Copeland would go 1-for-2 from the charity stripe.
Louisville would take a timeout with 12 seconds remaining and knock down their own three coming out of it, courtesy of Clark, to tie the game at 92-all.
Copeland would seemingly get a better look than the Cardinals would want to give as he dribbled in transition.
He would go up and miss, but after review, the officials would rule it a goaltend, resulting in a 94-92 lead for Syracuse.
Louisville would have three seconds to reply, and Clark's three-point attempt would go to the right of the rim.
Upon the ball dropping to the floor, the Orange would end their losing streak at two, getting back to .500 in the ACC at 6-6.
Overall, Syracuse would improve to 15-8 in Adrian Autry's first season as head coach.
The loss moves Louisville to 7-16 overall and 2-10 in ACC play.
For the game, there were a total of 18 lead changes and 13 ties, with 10 lead changes and seven ties coming in the second half.
Bell's single-game collegiate career-high of 30 points would come on 11-for-15 shooting overall, including his aforementioned 8-for-10 performance from beyond the arc.
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