Men's Basketball

Beat writers pick winner of Syracuse-Louisville matchup

Daily Orange File Photo

Tyler Roberson and Syracuse will look for their sixth ACC win in their last seven games.

Syracuse (16-10, 8-5 Atlantic Coast) had its five-game win streak snapped in Pittsburgh on Saturday, falling to the Panthers, 80-75. The Orange returns home to the Carrier Dome to take on No. 4 Louisville (20-5, 8-4) on Monday night. The Cardinals are coming off a come from behind win at Miami. See if our beat writers predict the Orange to pull off a third-straight top-10 win at home.

Connor Grossman (15-11)
Nesting place
Syracuse 68, Louisville 64

There’s no sound reason to think Syracuse will beat the fourth-ranked team in the country. Really, there isn’t. Louisville’s defense ranks near the top of the ACC in almost every statistical category, and for an SU team coming off a demoralizing road loss to Pittsburgh, Monday isn’t likely to be the pick-me-up the Orange is looking for. But neither were home games against then-No. 6 Florida State or then-No. 9 Virginia. Yet Syracuse pulled off wins nobody saw coming with a blend of great defense and enough offense that it hasn’t exhibited outside of Syracuse. Count me in for another stunner in the Carrier Dome.

Matt Schneidman (12-14)
Slick Rick
Louisville 74, Syracuse 68

The Cardinals are back at full strength following the return of Quentin Snider from injury and Mangok Mathiang and Deng Adel from suspension. Louisville pulled a Syracuse and came back from down double digits to beat Miami on Saturday, avoiding an 0-2 week heading into the Carrier Dome after losing to Virginia earlier. Snider and Donovan Mitchell will be too much for the Orange to handle, and Syracuse’s undefeated home conference record vanishes just like SU’s NCAA Tournament hopes.



Paul Schwedelson (15-11)
Q and no A’s
Louisville 79, Syracuse 64

Unlike Connor’s blind faith, I will give you reasons why Syracuse will lose. Louisville is really, really good. Syracuse is not. Cardinals point guard Quentin Snider returned from a hip injury this weekend after missing the six previous games. He finished with 13 points, four assists and four rebounds in a five-point win over Miami. Expect him to only improve as Donovan Mitchell, Deng Adel, Mangok Mathiang and Jaylen Johnson also help tear apart SU’s zone defense.





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