Orangeyes Daily Articles for Thursday Postgame and Thursday Articles

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‘Cuse Knocks Off #12 Louisville, 69-59 (Cuse.com)

 

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Christmas' 'Spectacular' Night Lifts Orange Over No. 12 Louisville (Cuse.com)

 

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Rakeem Christmas scores 29 to help Cuse take down L'ville (ESPN)

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Syracuse basketball downs Louisville, 69-59, for first win over ranked team (PS: Waters)

 

[OrangeXtreme]

You Grade the Orange: Rate the Syracuse basketball team's performance vs. Louisville (PS: Domin)

 

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Syracuse basketball box score vs. Louisville (PS: Murray)

 

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Christmas' 29-point performance carries Syracuse to 69-59 upset win over No. 12 Louisville (DO: D'Abbraccio)

Fast reaction: 3 quick observations from Syracuse's 10-point victory over Cardinals (DO: Dougherty)

Gallery: Syracuse takes on No. 12 Louisville in the Carrier Dome (DO)

Gbinije contributes on both ends of floor in win over No. 12 Louisville (DO: Dougherty)

Christmas follows up worst performance of season with best, carries Syracuse to upset of No. 12 Louisville (DO: D'Abbraccio)

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Syracuse 69, Louisville 59: Rak Came Back! (Nunes)

Syracuse 69 - Louisville 59: Christmas Guides Orange To Eighth ACC Win (Nunes)

Syracuse 69 - Louisville 59: Five Big Takeaways (Nunes)

 

[jekelish]

Look at me, look at me! I have a Syracuse website, too, and wrote a recap as well: http://.com/syracuse-gets-its-statement-win-over-louisville/

 

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Syracuse basketball shot well from floor, free-throw line in win over Louisville (4 factors) (PS: Stevens)

 

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Rakeem Christmas dominates Louisville: 'We really needed this game and I needed it, too' (PS: Ditota)

 

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Rick Pitino misses guard Chris Jones but 'if he doesn't do the right things, he can go to Belgium' (PS: Carlson)

 

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The Syracuse players wanted a signature win despite NCAA tournament ban (PS: Waters)

 

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Louisville Take...

Transcript of Rick Pitino's Post Syracuse Presser (courier-journal.com; Greer and Sullivan)

PITINO Q&A

Opening statement: You know, we played well. I thought Quentin Snider played outstanding. It wasn't his play, it was Wayne Blackshear not getting in foul trouble. We had to go substitute out of weakness rather than strength. But I thought we moved the ball great in the first half, did a lot of really good things. We missed a lot of shots that would have kept us in the game in the second half, wide-open, we had two in the corner.

But what's stopping us from being a really good basketball team is the last three years we've been one of the most feared defensive teams in the nation, with steals, turnovers, and we've just been void of both. I'm going to put out there on Kenny (Klein's) web site to try and motivate our guys -- who's getting the deflections. Again, we're falling short of it, so I'm using you to motivate my players."

On a lack of steals: I can live with the lack of steals. What we're doing wrong is we're in the right spot, doing the right things and all of a sudden it's you get the ball, I'm guarding you, you go right by me. It's ball containment of the dribbler that's hurting us. I'll tell you the truth: I was crushed by the North Carolina State loss. I'm not too disappointed with this. I told our guys, you played a winning game. If we make some of our free throws early in the second half we go up and missed free throws are like a turnover. It's the same as a turnover.

On Chris Jones: We missed him a lot but, you know, it's his selfishness that hurt the team. I'm not one that believes in suspensions, game suspensions. I believe in punishment where you get up in the morning and lift weights and curfew at night, but this was not a decision by me.

This was a decision – it's all cleared up – he could play the next game if he does what the assistant coaches tell him to do. If he doesn't he sits again. And I don't care if he sits the whole season, to tell you the truth. I could care less. Because if he doesn't do the right things and act like a Louisville man, he can move on and try to go to Belgium somewhere.
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Sullivan/Jones Sorely Missed in Cards Loss (courier-journal.com; Sullivan)

Almost since Jones arrived on campus with glittering junior college credentials, his relationship with Pitino has been an uneasy peace. Just last month, after some of Jones' strongest performances and his unseemly flop against Kentucky, Pitino joked that his point guard "always has his hands in the cookie jar," and added, "if you allow him to have bad habits, he'll have a lot of bad habits."

Yet as much as Jones has frustrated Pitino, his quickness, his stamina and his improved passing have been an important asset in Louisville's first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. In the Cardinals' last seven conference games prior to Wednesday night, Jones played at least 35 minutes six times, contributing nine assists at Pittsburgh, 28 points at Boston College and six steals at Miami.

U of L's best shot at an extended run in the NCAA Tournament – and that's not terribly promising at this point -- likely hinges on Jones recapturing his January form and attitude. If he is, instead, bound for Belgium or for banishment, it's hard to see how these Cardinals have enough weapons or depth for a meaningful March.

The Cardinals' inability to generate consistent pressure on defense has been a recurring concern for Pitino. Wednesday marked the second straight game Louisville had totaled only two steals and the first time in two years the Cardinals had lost three games in a four-game span.

Even with Jones in the lineup, Pitino has not seen the sort of ball pressure this season that made recent Louisville teams so scary. Without Jones, who leads U of L with 51 steals, that pressure is greatly reduced and the burden on his teammates greatly increased.
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Analysis/Cards Struggle in Loss to Orange (courier-journal.com; Greer)

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 U of L 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.

"We played well ... What's stopping us from being a very good basketball team is, the last three years, we've been one of the feared most defensive teams in the nation with steals, turnovers," Pitino said. "We've been void of both ... We're falling short of it."

• RELATED | Game Rewind: Cards drop their second straight
• FALLOUT: Rozier, Harrell want team meeting after loss
• WHERE'S AARON?: Pitino frustrated with freshman

If anything goes wrong, especially if more than one thing goes wrong, U of L 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.
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Game Rewind/Cards Drop Second Straight (courier-journal.com; Lintner)

Final: Syracuse 69, U of L 59.

This one will hurt the tournament resume. Two weeks after Syracuse's players found out they wouldn't have a postseason, they dealt a blow to U of L's on a night the Cards' offense stalled at times.

Playing without suspended Chris Jones -- and for how long? -- the Cards were out-scored 41-27 in the second half on their way to a double-digit loss. Terry Rozier scored 17 points, Montrezl Harrell had 15 and Quentin Snider 13, but U of L got no production from Wayne Blackshear in his 19 minutes and had to turn to walk-on David Levitch late as a solution at guard.

Meanwhile, Syracuse's Rakeem Christmas dominated in the post. The senior big man scored his 29 points on 9 of 10 shooting, chipping in 11 of 13 made free throws.

The Cards are now 20-6 overall and 8-5 in ACC play heading into Saturday's game against Miami at the KFC Yum! Center.
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[OrangeXtreme]

Bracketology: Wednesday's risers and decliners, plus Thursday's games that matter (PS: Stevens)

Bracketology: Iowa State up to a No. 3 seed after winning at Oklahoma State (Thursday projection) (PS: Stevens)

Bracketology: Xavier jumps after victory at Cincinnati (Thursday's at-large board) (PS: Stevens)

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Night Court: Duke beats UNC in an overtime instant classic (CBSSports)