Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneeley both made five 3-pointers to propel Louisville to a 77-62 win over visiting Syracuse on Tuesday.
Conwell scored 23 points and McKneeley notched 16 for Louisville (21-9, 10-7 ACC), which had lost three of its last four games to drop out of the Top 25. J’Vonne Hadley also made key contributions for the Cardinals, shooting 7 of 9 from the field and 3 of 3 from outside the arc en route to 19 points.
Naithan George scored 16 points and Nate Kingz added 14 to pace Syracuse (15-15, 6-11), which has dropped four games in a row. Donnie Freeman and J.J. Starling, the team’s top two scorers on the season, combined for just 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
The game was tied at 10-10 when Khani Rooths found Sananda Fru for an alley-oop to ignite an 11-0 run. Conwell made a 3-pointer shortly thereafter before McKneeley put an exclamation point on the burst with a four-point play.
Louisville held a similar 11-point lead late in the first half when the hosts embarked on a 10-0 run to create a 37-16 advantage. Hadley began that run with a dunk before McKneeley and Conwell took turns draining a 3-pointer. Hadley’s jumper punctuated the surge.
The Orange made a small dent in the deficit and went into the locker room trailing 39-21.
Conwell (11) and McKneeley (10) led all scorers in the opening 20 minutes.
Syracuse shot 7 of 25 from the field (28%) and 0 of 11 from 3-point range in the first half.
Louisville scored eight of the first 10 points in the second half, highlighted by 3-pointers from McKneeley and Hadley.
Near the midway point of the second half, Adrian Wooley scored five quick points as the Cardinals went in front by 22.
Syracuse countered with a 13-2 run to get within 62-51 with 6:27 left. But soon thereafter, McKneeley and Conwell each made a 3-pointer and the hosts waltzed to the finish line.
