7th-ranked Louisville is still vying for a top seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but Syracuse has other ideas in a Sunday afternoon clash between two ACC titans. The Orange are coming off of a thrilling upset over Duke when John Gillon hit a 3-point shot as time expired.
The Cardinals had a different result in a disappointing loss to North Carolina last Wednesday. Louisville has won four of the last five meetings against Syracuse, including a 76-72 overtime victory two weeks ago. This contest tips off at 2:00 PM Eastern time and can be seen on CBS, CBSSports.com, and the CBS Sports mobile app.
Syracuse (17-12, 9-7 ACC)
The Orange are on the right side of the bubble with the latest ESPN projection showing them as a 10 seed in the South region. For Syracuse, it's all a matter of just getting into the dance. They were a 10 seed last year and represented the East region in the Final Four. It felt like things were slipping away from them, but the win over Duke puts them right back into contention. Grabbing another top 10 win over Louisville could certainly propel them to a big run.
Senior guard John Gillon (11.1 ppg, 5.4 apg) led the way with a team-high 26 points. He also had a stunning passing ratio of six assists to zero turnovers. Gillon picked up the slack for Andrew White III (17.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg), who was limited to seven points.
No. 7 Louisville (22-6, 10-5 ACC)
The Cardinals' three-game winning streak was snapped in a double-digit loss to North Carolina. After a tight battle through the first half, the Tar Heels eventually took control. While Louisville had better shooting by making 44.3 percent of their shots, they were limited at the foul line -- UNC gathered 17 more points on free throws by comparison.
Sophomore guard Donovan Mitchell (15.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg) was the only player to hit double figures in scoring. He recorded 21 points, and that was a follow-up to a solid 26 points in the win over Virginia Tech last weekend.
Despite Syracuse getting that big win, Louisville is still an 8.5-point favorite. The Cardinals are 16-9-1 against the spread this season.
