The Syracuse Orange fall flat against Louisville (Highlights)
Feb 26, 2017; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Mangok Mathiang (12) shoots against Syracuse Orange forward Tyler Lydon (20) during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Syracuse 88-68. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

After stunning Duke just days ago, the Syracuse Orange come up extremely flat against the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday.

  • Syracuse Orange (17-13, 9-8)
  • Louisville Cardinals (23-6, 11-5)
  • NCAA, Final, Box Score
  • KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
After upsetting No. 10 Duke last Wednesday, thanks to consistent offense, the Syracuse Orange were looking to do the same this afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Orange started slow and Louisville took advantage. Syracuse saw themselves down 11-3 early, but quickly closed the gap thanks to two consecutive threes courtesy of Tyler Lydon and Tyus Battle.

Momentum shifted quickly, and the Orange were suddenly 18-17 after a 12-2 run. Things were starting to look even until Louisville stepped up. A 24-8 run by the Cardinals to close out the first half quickly put Syracuse in their place in this one.

The early stages of the second half saw more dominance from the Cardinals, who were quickly up 23 points after a 9-2 run. Boeheim wasn’t going to let Louisville continue to blow out his team, so his squad started to use their full court press.

Syracuse quickly cut the lead to 14 thanks to threes from John Gillon and Andrew White, but Louisville quickly responded afterward. Louisville won this one 88-68, and Syracuse was unable to make one of their miraculous comeback attempts that we’ve all seen so often this season.

Consistent rebounding on both ends of the basketball is what allowed to Cardinals to cruise through this one. Winning the rebound battle 39-28, Louisville took a ton of advantage of one of the worst rebounding teams in the ACC.

After shooting 53 percent against the Duke Blue Devils, Syracuse shot 36% this afternoon. Louisville shot 57 percent today, and Rick Pitino’s squad never looked nervous.

Although Tyler Lydon and Tyus Battle turned in quality performances, John Gillon was too selfless today, and that’s why the Orange were never in it. After scoring 26 including a game winner against Duke, Gillon scored just 10 points and only took 6 shots.

Andrew White, who has been one of the deadliest 3-point shooters in the country since conference play began, was invisible against Duke, and even more so today. White went into this game averaging 17.5 points and finished with just seven.

Syracuse’s final regular season game comes at home against Georgia Tech, a team that beat the Orange in their last matchup. This is a must-win for a Syracuse team that is fighting for a spot in the big dance. The last time these two teams met, Syracuse was on the road. Playing at the Carrier dome gives the Orange a huge advantage come Saturday.

 NEXT: Inside look at Syracuse court-storming (Video) 

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