Syracuse upsets cold-shooting Louisville
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The University of Louisville men's basketball team came to this ice-cold basketball city looking for a change, a boost in morale that might jump-start a frustrating February.
Instead, 12th-ranked Louisville left Syracuse with its third loss in four games, a 69-59 decision, and returned home wondering what's next.
It is mid-February, 26 games into the 2014-15 season, and Louisville has lost its identity. In Wednesday's loss, Louisville (20-6, 8-5 in the ACC) was rudely reminded that its margin of error has become razor thin.
If anything goes wrong, especially if more than one thing goes wrong, Louisville will have trouble beating many of the solid opponents left on its schedule. And on Wednesday night, a lot went wrong.
Wayne Blackshear contributed nothing — zero points, zero rebounds, zero assists — and was saddled with foul trouble for most of the game. Chris Jones was suspended for violating team rules. And Chinanu Onuaku, Anas Mahmoud and Mangok Mathiang could not defend Syracuse big man Rakeem Christmas, who finished with 29 points and eight rebounds.
That's more than enough to hand Louisville another disappointing result.
At its best this campaign, Louisville was a sound defensive team, a unit capable of stifling just about anyone and finding enough scoring from its core four players that it could get by and win.
Whether it was Terry Rozier, Jones or Blackshear scoring from the perimeter, or Montrezl Harrell patrolling the lane and imposing his physical presence, Louisville had just enough talent in those four players to get the job done, win 20 games and remain in the top 10 for the first three months of the season.
But Louisville learned at Syracuse that it is not what it once was, at least right now. And it returns home wondering if that is a reachable goal at this point in the season.
Blackshear's rough night: Sometimes the criticism of Blackshear seems to go over the top, but any frustration directed his way on Wednesday night was probably fair. The 6-foot-5 Blackshear deserves credit for drawing a first-half charge and playing solid defense at times, but he also spent the end of the first half in foul trouble and picked up his fourth foul with 15:16 left in the game.
He fouled out with 5:16 to play, and his final stat line left a lot to be desired. He was 0 for 2, with zero points, zero rebounds and zero assists. When Jones already isn't on the floor, Louisville needs production from Blackshear. The Cards didn't get any.
New bench rotation? The first three players off Louisville's bench were Mahmoud, David Levitch and Anton Gill. Just like you expected, right? Gill struggled, losing two turnovers and looking confused again. But Levitch and Mahmoud played well. Mahmoud, the 7-foot freshman, hit a soft elbow jumper in the first half, and he made a nice post move for a bucket early in the second.
Mathiang didn't make his first appearance until the 8:36 mark of the second half, and Shaqquan Aaron didn't play at all.
Jeff Greer writes for the Louisville Courier-Journal.