Louisville basketball: Three takeaways from blowout of Syracuse

Louisville basketball dismantled Syracuse on Wednesday to get back on track in ACC play. We have the three biggest takeaways for the Cards.

“And we back. And we back. And we back” were the lyrics I found myself humming walking out of the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday night as Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball squad dismantled Syracuse and their 2-3 zone.

After watching Louisville struggle in back-to-back games, ultimately losing both, I watched fans begin to question the coaching, the determination, the abilities, and so much more of a team that had just won 10-games in a row and had avoided any type of bad losses all season long. Even with that going on, I felt comfortable knowing the coach of the Cards had been through bad stretches before during his time at Xavier and was able to come out of them better prepared to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.

It didn’t feel like a simple-fix was too far fetched to get Louisville back on track, whether that be to the starting lineups or to the rotation as a whole. Chris Mack hinted that lineup changes were coming, without revealing too much, and it felt like now was the time to insert David Johnson and Malik Williams to get the ball rolling much earlier on both sides of the floor.

That’s exactly what happened against Syracuse on Wednesday night (with Montrezl Harrell in the building as his “exile” ended) as Mack added Johnson, Williams, Jordan Nwora, and McMahon into the starting lineup sending Samuell Williamson, Fresh Kimble, Steven Enoch, and Darius Perry to the bench as reserves. It paid off as Louisville got off to a great start, using McMahon at the top of the key to pull out the defense and open up the interior for playmaking by Johnson.

From there Louisville’s ability to swing the ball around the key opened up so many shots whether they were from deep, inside around the basket, and even in the mid-range area. The Cards shot a total of 47 percent from the field while shooting 42 percent from three, all but eliminating the worries about the offense.

Louisville brought their best Montrezl Harrell-esque effort on the defensive side of the floor as well, doing all they could to keep ACC leading scorer Elijah Hughes from getting going while limiting the impact of the shooting from three by Buddy Boeheim and Joseph Girard III.

Hot-shooting from Dwayne Sutton, McMahon, and Nwora got Louisville out to a big lead, which they never really gave back. With Syracuse in heavy foul trouble, Louisville pushed the lead to 15, then 20, all the way up to nearly 24 as they got the much-needed bounce-back victory, giving them a 22-5 record overall and 13-3 in the ACC.

With Duke taking the L later on in the night to North Carolina State, the Cards moved back into first place in the ACC and just like that the “sky is falling” mentality had passed.

Let’s take a look at Louisville’s win with three big takeaways.