LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was a fleeting two minutes and 10 seconds that Syracuse spent ahead of Louisville on Sunday afternoon. The remaining 37:50 looked a lot like SU’s (17-13, 9-8 Atlantic Coast) previous road games, and the result was a 20-point loss to the No. 7 Cardinals (23-6, 11-5) in the KFC Yum! Center.

Here are three things we learned from the Orange’s penultimate regular season game.

In a battle of presses, Syracuse got run down

Both the Cardinals and SU found different reasons to employ their press defenses. UofL was trying to catch Syracuse a little bit off guard, especially after not showcasing a press in the Carrier Dome two weeks ago. SU, quite simply, was pressing out of desperation. If nothing else, it was a last gasp to maintain relevancy on the scoreboard.

The Cardinals had the luxury of picking their spots to dispatch some pressure defense. That helped force some of Syracuse’s 16 turnovers, which Louisville then converted for 27 points.

The Orange’s press wasn’t terrible, and it hasn’t been when it’s been used in the final minutes of close games. But instead of playing a short game of catchup or preserving a game-ending lead, SU began pressing in the final two minutes of the first half. It then extended into large chunks of second-half minutes, leaving Syracuse worn out and yielding several easy baskets.

“People have said, ‘Why don’t you press more?’” Boeheim said. “Well this is why. Because we’re effective for three or four minutes.

“…When you have to press, you have to press. There’s no other way out of it.”

Taurean Thompson took a step back in his progression

The 6-foot-10 freshman forward has been a bright spot this season. He immediately proved himself as a crafty scorer in the post, and unseated fifth-year senior Dajuan Coleman as a starter. Thompson’s been dragged down by poor defensive positioning in the zone and is no stranger to foul trouble, but largely he’s been productive in his freshman campaign.

On Sunday though, Thompson sat disgruntled in his locker room chair after the game. He recounted his poor shot selection and inability to rebound against the Cardinals’ lengthy roster. The freshman still finishing with 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting, but he was completely shut out in the first half. He missed the only three shots he took and corralled only one rebound, playing only eight minutes in favor of Tyler Roberson. His two points came from the free-throw line.

The second half, like it was for most every Syracuse player, went better than the first. Thompson had a better touch on his shot, but defensive issues cropped up again. He committed three fouls, including blatant contact on Quentin Snider in a one-on-one situation.

“I didn’t even know what to do,” Thompson said. “It was one-on-one, so I just fouled.

“… Just bad decisions.”

Syracuse took too long to start driving

At times, it seemed SU completely forgot what happened in an overtime loss to the Cardinals in the Carrier Dome. Syracuse attempted more 3-pointers (33) than it had against any other team this season, and still shot 24.2 percent behind the arc. UofL boasts one of the best 3-point defenses in the ACC, and SU still tried to test it on Sunday afternoon. The Orange missed 11 3s and hardly drove the paint in the first half, helping contribute to a 16-point halftime deficit.

It was seemingly too late to stage a comeback at that point, especially against the Cardinals’ defense. But once Syracuse founds openings to knife through Louisville’s interior defense, that finally led to an uptick in offense. It’s the same strategy that shouldered much of SU’s comeback wins over Duke and Virginia.

That’s not to say the Orange would have beaten UofL if it started driving from the opening tipoff, but perhaps the final score doesn’t reflect a blowout. Point guard play was once again a focal point, and after scoring 26 against the Blue Devils on Wednesday, John Gillon scored 10 points dished only three assists.

“(Louisville) have to be one of the longest, if not the longest team,” Gillon said. “…They have three shot blockers in at all times.”

“You’ve got to drive,” Boeheim added. “The second half we drove. We had 43 points in the second half. Same defense. We were just too passive. We didn’t attack the defense.”

Published on February 26, 2017 at 7:41 pm

Contact Connor: cgrossma@syr.edu | @connorgrossman