Syracuse lost to Louisville because of defense, but the Orange struggled to score, too

Louisville, Ky. – Syracuse allowed 90 points against Louisville on Wednesday night here in the Yum! Center. The Cardinals made 47 percent of their overall shots and 42 percent of their 3-point shots. Five guys reached double-figures. The Orange’s inability to guard Louisville – either at the rim or outside the 3-point line – obliterated any chance to beat the nation’s No. 11 team on its home court.

But Syracuse’s offense offered no solutions, either. The Orange could not score against Louisville and its determined, switching man defense.

“We just struggled in everything today,” said SU’s Joe Girard after Louisville’s 90-66 domination. “Offense-defense. I don’t know what it was and how it happened. It was just every category. It was kind of hard for us to do anything.”

The defense has failed to guard teams all season. SU ranks 136 nationally in defensive efficiency (Kenpom.com). Teams are scoring on the Orange at an alarming rate from a variety of places. There are openings from the 3-point line in every game. It’s just a matter of opposing shooters knocking them down. There are gaping holes on the interior.

But Syracuse has competed in those games. It has stayed with Florida State and Duke and Notre Dame because it, too, could produce points.

Louisville made sure that would not happen here Wednesday night. The Cardinals smothered SU’s three primary scoring options. Girard and Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes were a combined 13-of-42 overall and 6-of-22 from the 3-point line. They scored a collective 37 points.

“There aren’t going to be as many teams, I don’t think, to hold those three scorers – I’m talking Girard, Boeheim and Hughes – to under 50 percent each,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said. “There were a handful of guys who were on them defensively.”

Louisville guarded the Orange like most teams do – they concentrated on SU’s big three. They crowded those guys on ball screens, essentially ignoring the forward or center who set the screen to double the ball. They swarmed to the big three on the catch, leaving little shooting space to launch a 3-point shot. They wanted to make those guys beat them off the dribble instead of beating them with the dangerous 3-ball.

In the second half, Louisville switched “Fresh” Kimble on Boeheim, who scored 11 first-half points. Kimble’s quickness discouraged Boeheim from trying to put the ball on the floor to possibly exploit his size advantage closer to the basket.

“It’s tough,” Buddy Boeheim said. “I thought in the first half, I was able to get some good looks. Quincy and I connected on the handoffs a couple times. And in the second half, (big man Malik) Williams just jumped out and double-teamed it. They made adjustments and it’s tough to get clean looks. Sutton’s a really good defender and a physical guy on Elijah. That’s a tough matchup for him.”

Hughes struggled Wednesday against a smart, veteran defender in Dwayne Sutton. The ball stuck with him in the first half. He took early, contested shots. Jim Boeheim said Louisville defenders did not permit Hughes to reach the rim with his dribble.

There were moments in the first half when SU’s only shots came from Hughes or Girard. The rest of the Orange men were reduced to spectators. There was no ball movement, no cutting, no screens.

“We’re going too much one-on-one,” Marek Dolezaj said. “Elijah is driving. He’s hitting tough shots. But we’re just not moving. It’s our whole offense – we go one-on-one and me, Quincy and the other guys are just standing around and trying to see what the other guy is going to do.”

Dolezaj took one shot in nearly 29 minutes Wednesday night. At one point, he caught the ball on the low block with the 6-foot Ryan McMahon guarding him. Dolezaj did not take a shot. He never gazed at the rim.

Louisville could devote all its defensive resources Wednesday to stopping three Syracuse players.

There have been times this season when Syracuse has run its offense through the junior from Slovakia. But in SU’s last two games, he’s taken a total of six shots. He rarely gets the ball.

“We need to move better to see where I can get open, where I can get my shot off, where I can drive. When I see it on the tape, I can realize a little bit more. But I know I’m not doing a good job in the offense and I’m not helping my team,” Dolezaj said. “In the beginning of the season, we moved. We passed the ball a lot. We made the plays for other teammates. And now it’s more like settle for one-on-one and we just need to do a better job.”

"Everybody has a role on the team,” Girard said. “You just gotta play your role and just do it the best that you can. And teams have kind of figured it out. We know that guys like Marek and Quincy can make plays. They can make plays for themselves or for others. And we’re kind of trusting them to do that. But tonight was just a bad night for all of us.”

Jim Boeheim pointed out Wednesday that SU’s offense has been “pretty good” this season. And for the most part, that’s been true. But not against Louisville. Not against deep teams that can roll out athlete after athlete to provide fresh, different defensive looks. Not against teams that understand the way to beat SU is to concentrate solely on its big three scorers and can execute that game plan like Louisville did Wednesday night.

“We threw it to Marek and he was 0-for-1 and had a couple turnovers. We threw it to Quincy and he turned it over twice. His offense is off the boards, that’s where he catches it and puts it in. That’s where he’s good,” Jim Boeheim said. “We can’t throw any of those guys the ball. We don’t have a post presence, so we’re working with the perimeter guys to try to establish our offense there. And our offense is pretty good. We’re doing what we have to do to win games.”

Donna Ditota is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? Reach her at dditota@syracuse.com.

More Syracuse basketball:

• Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim defends his slumping team: ‘These guys have fought hard’
• 'Frustration finally boils over’: Fans, media react to Syracuse basketball’s loss at Louisville
• Syracuse’s defense just isn’t good (Donna Ditota’s quick hits)

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