Adrian Autry and his team are at a breaking point right now. The Orange have frustratingly lost back-to-back games. On top of that, the long and messy Benny Williams story has ended with the team’s longest-tenured player being dismissed with just over a month to go. When all of this craziness goes down, the season doesn’t just stop. The Orange have to play and can’t lose focus on the season at hand. While it may feel like it, anything is possible and this year isn’t over. Just look at the top of the ACC. North Carolina has lost two games to non-ranked teams in the past week.
The ‘Cuse continue on tonight against another usual power who has struggled recently. If you think Syracuse has fallen off, just look at whats happened to Louisville. The Cardinals made back-to-back final fours less than 15 years ago. Now, they’ve become a laughingstock of college basketball. The struggles for UofL have continued into this season. Louisville is 7-15 overall and just 2-9 in ACC play. The Cards lost to Chattanooga, DePaul, and Arkansas State this season. Syracuse can not lose this game.
With a loss tonight, all of the wheels will have fallen off. Up next SU plays two of the best teams in the conference, Clemson and North Carolina. A loss tonight would mean that it’s very likely the ‘Cuse would lose five games in a row with back-to-back road games coming after that. With everything that’s happened in the past week it feels impossible that the Orange could be 8.5 point favorites in a conference game. But that’s the case going into tonight. This is the definition of a must-win game. It’s going to be a big test for Autry and his young team. It isn’t easy to stay focused with everything that’s gone on. But the Orange need to come out on top tonight.
