Syracuse squeezes out win vs. surging Louisville
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Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim preferred to look on the bright side despite all his team's problems.
Senior leaders Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph struggled. The Orange missed shot after shot.
Only C.J. Fair had an answer against host Louisville, which was poised for an upset.
"Our defense was getting crucial stops when we needed them," Fair said. "And, defense wins games."
Fair scored 13 points and No. 2 Syracuse (26-1, 13-1) scored the final six points of the game to beat the 19th-ranked Cardinals (20-6, 8-5), 52-51, snapping a seven-game losing streak against Louisville in a game that reminded Boeheim of the NCAA tournament.
"You're going to get in games like this in the tournament. I don't care who you are. You've got to be ready to be able to make those plays at the end of games," Boeheim said.
"If they make a play, hit one shot, the end, we lose. In the tournament, you go home and you're going to play teams like Louisville and teams just as good or better."
Syracuse is on a roll toward a Big East title and hopes to play for a national championship in April. The Orange proved in this one they could grind out a possession-by-possession battle.
"You can either give the defenses credit or say it was a bad offensive game," Boeheim said. "We're going to look on the bright side and say it was a real defensive struggle tonight."
Louisville rallied with a 15-2 run to take a 51-46 lead, but the Orange held the Cardinals without a point over the final 3 1/2 minutes and Fair hit the go-ahead layup with 2:11 left.
"It was a defensive battle and they came up with the plays at the end," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "I'm very, very disappointed that we lost the game."
"We are crushed with this loss -- absolutely crushed. We didn't get the job done when we should have.," Patino said.
• Kansas 59, Kansas State 53: Tyshawn Taylor had 20 points as No. 4 Kansas (21-5, 11-2) fended off a stiff test from host Kansas State (17-8, 6-7).
• Baylor 79, Iowa State 64: Perry Jones III rediscovered his shooting touch with 18 points as host No. 9 Baylor (22-4, 9-4 Big 12) rebounded from consecutive losses with a victory against Iowa State (18-8, 8-5).
• Tennessee 91, Kentucky 54: Meighan Simmons scored a season-high 25 points as No. 13 Tennessee (18-7, 9-3 SEC) routed visiting No. 7 Kentucky (21-4, 10-2).
• Minnesota 64, Nebraska 58: Kionna Kellogg's basket broke a tie with 1:01 left as Minnesota (13-14, 5-8 Big Ten) beat visiting No. 16 Nebraska (19-5, 8-4).
• Connecticut 73, Oklahoma 55: Tiffany Hayes scored 23 points and Bria Hartley added 20 as No. 2 Connecticut (24-2) won at Oklahoma (16-8).
First Published February 14, 2012 12:00 am
