LOUISVILLE, Ky. — To beat No. 1 Louisville on the road, Syracuse would certainly have to put together one of its best performances of the season.

The Orange players knew they couldn’t come out flat and expect to win as they did against South Florida. They knew they couldn’t do just enough to get by as they did against Providence.

They needed to play great to beat the Cardinals. Anything less was sure to end in a loss.

“We just wanted to come out here and play one of our best games,” SU guard Brandon Triche said, “which we didn’t.”

And yet, Syracuse still left the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday with its biggest win of the season, a 70-68 comeback victory over the favored Cardinals, effectively ending UofL’s reign atop the AP Poll after one week while thrusting itself back into the discussion with the nation’s elite.

As Triche said, SU’s performance was far from perfect.

Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams, an All-American candidate, looked lost at times against Louisville’s unforgiving defense and finished with eight turnovers compared to seven assists. The Orange’s frontcourt trio of Rakeem Christmas, DaJuan Coleman and Baye Moussa Keita were virtually nonexistent offensively, scoring a combined nine points. And don’t forget, the absence of James Southerland, the team’s second-leading scorer, also meant the absence of its best 3-point shooter – leaving all the weight on Triche’s shoulders in this big-time showdown between the Big East’s best.

To beat No. 1 Louisville on the road, Syracuse would certainly have to be better than that.

But the Orange overcame every obstacle, making the imperfect victory all the more impressive. SU made a statement with this win, announcing itself as one of the teams in the national title hunt to anyone who wasn’t quite sure.

No. 6 Syracuse proved that it belongs alongside Indiana, Duke, Kansas, Michigan and Louisville – the top-5 teams in the country that all received votes for the top spot last Monday.

Just ask Louisville head coach Rick Pitino.

His club was on a roll, ripping off 11 straight wins since its lone previous loss to Duke. Behind their smothering defense and balanced lineup, Louisville was never tied and never trailed an opponent in the final 10 minutes of its previous 10 games.

“It’s not easy to beat our basketball team and they did it so they deserve a lot of credit,” Pitino said.

Credit goes to Triche for pouring in 18 of his team-high 23 points in the first half to keep Syracuse in the game; and for taking over at point guard – becoming the team’s primary ball handler while Carter-Williams moved off the ball – where he calmly got the offense started against the Cardinals pressure.

Credit goes to Carter-Williams for overcoming the rough first half, in which he turned it over six times, to spearhead Syracuse’s late comeback. The sophomore scored 11 of his team’s final 13 points, assisted on the other and came up with two game-clinching steals to shock Louisville in the final minute.

Credit goes to Jerami Grant for playing a solid all-around game in a career-high 35 minutes as he replaces Southerland in the rotation. The freshman played poised and in control, hitting his share of big shots to finish with 10 points.

And credit goes to C.J. Fair for quietly logging 40 minutes in yet another steady performance. The lefty forward gave Syracuse an experienced presence in the lane on both ends of the floor and chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds.

In the words of Triche, “it’s all about team” for Syracuse.

“If one person’s struggling, someone else is going to do it,” the senior guard said. “That’s what we did tonight.”

They also proved, despite their flaws, that they’re one of the best teams in the nation.

There’s still plenty of basketball to be played, but this victory meant a little more than any other so far this year.

That much was clear as the buzzer sounded and Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim gave a rare display of excitement, giving a sweeping fist pump before walking toward the Louisville bench to shake Pitino’s hand.

But Boeheim was quick to dismiss any significance of the win over the No. 1 team and conference favorite at the podium after the game.

“I think they’ll be the team to beat in the country when it all comes down in the end,” Boeheim said of Louisville.

By season’s end, Syracuse could be the team to beat. Whether Boeheim likes it or not, after Saturday, his team’s in the discussion.

Ryne Gery is a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at rjgery@syr.edu

Published on January 20, 2013 at 6:45 pm