National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Syracuse 58, Louisville 49
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 3, 2012
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York
Officials: # Jeff Clark, # Michael Stephens, # Carl Gaffney
Attendance: 33205

Syracuse 58, Louisville 49: Brandon Triche scored 18 points and the second-ranked Orange secured the first 30-win regular season in school history with an impressive victory over the Cardinals on Senior Day.

Dion Waiters scored 13 points and Kris Joseph added 11 in his final home game for Syracuse (30-1, 17-1 Big East), which ran its home winning streak to 22 games. The Orange finished undefeated at the Carrier Dome for the first time since its national championship season of 2003.

Syracuse is also the second team in the last 30 years to finish Big East play with just one loss. The other team was the 1984-85 St. John’s team that reached the Final Four.

The Orange broke the game wide open with a 36-12 run that spanned the first and second halves. Joseph’s dunk in transition gave Syracuse its biggest lead at 50-31 with just under nine minutes to play.

Louisville used a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 50-40 with 4:02 left, but the Cardinals missed three straight 3-pointers and Syracuse closed it out.

Russ Smith and freshman Chane Behanan each scored 10 points for Louisville (22-9, 10-8), which shot just 32 percent (21 of 65) and lost for the fourth time in six games. The Cardinals were just 2 of 24 from beyond the arc.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Louisville coach Rick Pitino shook up the lineup and started freshman Wayne Blackshear over Kyle Kuric, the team’s leading scorer. … Syracuse held Louisville without a field goal for more than 10 minutes and led 26-19 at halftime.
Top Game Performances
 
Louisville   Syracuse
Chane Behanan 10 Scoring Brandon Triche 18
Peyton Siva 4 Assists Brandon Triche 4
Gorgui Dieng 12 Rebounds Fab Melo 8
Peyton Siva 2 Free Throws Made Brandon Triche 5
Russ Smith 3 Steals Kris Joseph 2
Gorgui Dieng 2 Blocks Fab Melo 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Louisville 49 33.9 2-23 5-7 7 37 3 10 13
Syracuse 58 42.2 8-21 12-18 12 29 8 6 15