Syracuse men’s basketball picks up third straight win in rout of Louisville

How can you tell a game was absolutely dominated by one side? Well, the Syracuse men’s basketball squad set a pretty good example today. The Orange never trailed, and led by as much as 30 in a complete thrashing of the Cardinals. 

SU had an aggressive gameplan from the start. Jesse Edwards threw down a pair of booming dunks and remained the focal point of the offense throughout the first half.

Nearly every play was focused on Edwards driving through the middle for chances in the paint. Once Edwards demanded the attention of the Louisville defense, he dished the ball off to wide open shooters. Joe Girard III hit back-to-back uncontested threes as part of a 12-2 run, giving the Orange a 25-14 lead early.

“We did a good job as a team, being in the right positions,” Edwards said.

Have a day, Jesse 👏

19 PTS
9-11 FG
8 REB
3 AST
3 STL
2 BLK pic.twitter.com/2M8KefRb9Q

— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) February 5, 2022

While the Orange set up quality shots, the Cardinals could not seem to score from anywhere. They were particularly bad from distance, shooting only 2-16 (12.5%) outside the arc in the first half.

Buddy Boeheim soon joined the scoring barrage, and the Orange began to pull away. The 43-26 halftime score only widened once the second half began. Buddy had eight of the first 10 Syracuse points out of the half, all but stopping any chance of a momentum swing.

“Buddy’s played well all year. He’s been there for us,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “It felt to me like a game that (Louisville) could get back into.”

“There’s no one in this league that can’t beat you if you don’t go out and play well.”

The exclamation point in this one came from a player off the bench. Frank Anslam collected a pass from Benny Williams and slammed it down, extending the Orange’s lead to 30.

Dang @the2kfranky 😳 pic.twitter.com/xKN1EID89s

— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) February 5, 2022

“I think we’ve been really balanced,” Jimmy Boeheim said. “It’s super encouraging when everyone is scoring, when everyone is comfortable out there.”

For the second straight game, all five SU Starters reached double-digit points. Edwards finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, and Buddy matched him in the former. 

Attendance for the game was 23,298, the largest in college basketball this season. That comes just a week after 23,194 showed up to see the Orange beat Wake Forest.

“I couldn’t be happier or prouder of the fans we have,” Jim Boeheim said. “The students have been great.”

The team hits the road for matchups against Boston College (Tuesday) and Virginia Tech (Saturday). They’ll return home Feb. 19 for a rematch with BC.