Syracuse holds off feisty Louisville down the stretch with 82-76 win

Updated Mar. 2, 2024 11:00 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Chris Bell had 23 points and Judah Mintz scored 21 as Syracuse held off Louisville 82-76 on Saturday night, beating the Cardinals for the fourth straight time.

Taylor scored 11 points and Maliq Brown and JJ Starling scored 10 apiece for Syracuse (20-10, 11-8 ACC). The Orange shot 57.8% (26 of 45) which proved critical as they missed 14 foul shots, shooting 64.1% (25 of 39).

Mike James scored 18 points, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Kaleb Glenn scored 15 for Louisville (8-21, 3-15 ACC).

Syracuse led 64-47 after Brown made a pair of foul shots with 9:49 left. Louisville went on to outscore Syracuse 27-14 to get within 78-74 on a James' 3-pointer with 39 seconds left.

The Cardinals targeted Taylor to foul down the stretch as he was just 1 of 5 from the stripe up to that point. He responded to the challenge and made 4 of 6 down the stretch to seal the win.

Bell and Taylor threw down dunks in succession in a 20-second stretch early to give Syracuse an 11-7 lead and the Orange led the rest of the way. Syracuse stretched the lead to nine on multiple occasions before Louisville went on 7-1 run to get within 29-26 with 4:43 before halftime on Tre White's 3. Syracuse proceeded to counter with a 10-2 run to close the half up 39-28 for its first double-digit lead of the game.

James had a three-point play and a dunk to reduce Louisville's deficit to 48-42 with 14:57 left. Syracuse outscored the Cardinals 9-5 to extend its lead back to double digits. The Orange made it 64-47 before Louisville outscored them 17-9 to again draw within single digits at 73-64, setting up the finish.

The Orange — winners of six of seven against Louisville — end their regular season on Tuesday with a road trip to Clemson.

Louisville hosts Virginia Tech on Tuesday.

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