Observations from No. 23 SU’s win over No. 15 Louisville: Breaking the zone, Varejão remains impactful

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The last time Syracuse met Louisville, just about everything went wrong past the opening quarter.

A 21-14 lead through 10 minutes became SU’s third-worst shooting performance (36.2%) of the season by the final buzzer. Outside of Dyaisha Fair’s 28 points, secondary scorers like Georgia Woolley (5-for-12) and Alaina Rice (4-for-15) struggled against U-of-L’s matchup-zone defense and posted inefficient totals from the field. The Orange ultimately fell 81-69 for their third Atlantic Coast Conference defeat of the year.

In the two sides’ rematch Sunday, Louisville instilled a similar game plan, leaving Syracuse to play from behind for nearly the whole contest. SU totaled its sixth-worst shooting performance of the season, ending at 38.4%. But as they always seem to do, the Orange stormed back in the fourth and cut the deficit to one.

With 2.3 seconds left, Fair was intentionally fouled and made both of the ensuing free throws. Her game-high 29 points capped off another shocking comeback win for the Orange.

Here are some observations from No. 23 Syracuse’s (20-4, 10-3 ACC) 73-72 come-from-behind victory over No. 15 Louisville (20-5, 9-3 ACC):

SU’s 2nd crack at breaking U-of-L’s zone

On Feb. 1, the Cardinals displayed a suffocating zone defense to thwart SU’s perimeter options and limit space for Fair during a major chunk of the contest. Fair broke through for 13 fourth-quarter points, but by that point, Louisville had already secured a victory.

In Louisville’s second look at the Orange, it deployed the same defensive set to start the contest. Guards Nina Rickards and Nyla Harris converged on Fair when she stepped inside the arc, Olivia Cochran manned the middle and Kiki Jefferson and Sydney Taylor locked onto Rice and Woolley along the perimeter.

Again, Syracuse struggled with this look and, at first, the Orange were left without much space to maneuver. Late in the first, Izabel Varejão passed to Rice cutting along the left baseline, though Cochran and Jefferson trapped her and forced the ball out of bounds. Syracuse shot just 7-for-18 during the opening period, but it began to find its footing to gain more open attempts.

The Cardinals continued their same defensive strategy throughout the contest, and like it did to start the game, SU had problems from the field in the second half. It grabbed 12 offensive boards through the final 20 minutes, but it couldn’t finish on those second-chance opportunities.

Ultimately, Syracuse did what it could to adjust to Louisville’s scheme, though the zone left SU struggling from the field for the majority of the contest — posting a 38.4% shooting mark.

Louisville’s scorching hot 1st quarter

The Orange were reeling on defense early, due to the Cardinals’ dominant start from the field. Through one quarter, Louisville went 11-for-17 (64.71%) on its attempts, with most of the damage done inside the arc, and built up a 25-19 lead over the first 10 minutes.

SU struggled to keep up with U-of-L’s ball movement, often suffering lapses in the half-court and leaving shooters uncovered. It was a prevalent issue from the start, as the Cardinals made each of their first five field goal attempts to gain a 10-6 lead early.

Initially, Syracuse couldn’t keep up by matching its opponents’ production. Though, the Orange were able to crawl back from an eight-point deficit to make it 18-15 in favor of Louisville with less than 2:00 left. In response, Merissah Russell drove baseline and drew a double-team, which freed up Jayda Curry for a wide-open 3.

And even after a Fair mid-range make and a Latham bucket, Louisville caught SU lacking for a few baskets at the end of the quarter. First, Russell created space past Rice to bank in a floater with less than 30 seconds left. Then, with mere seconds remaining, Curry took an inbound pass and dribbled to the other end, completely uncontested, and nailed a floater to close out a big first quarter for the Cardinals.

Varejão remains impactful

Varejão made an instant impact upon her return. Against Georgia Tech on Feb. 8, she provided Syracuse with a versatile bench big — one it had been lacking since Dec. 4. Facing off against the ACC’s No. 2 seed gave Varejão another opportunity to show how much she can potentially increase SU’s trajectory in the conference.

She checked in during the middle-portion of the first and missed a mid-range jumper on her first attempt. A few possessions into her first on-court stint, Varejão sped out in transition and Rice found her for a layup at the rim; Jefferson stood no chance on the 6-foot-4 forward.

Varejão was left open for a few 3-pointers and hit a big 3 midway into the third quarter, though she finished just 1-for-4. Still, the fifth-year provided a staunch presence on defense as she finished with two rebounds and one block.

Varejão ended her second game back with seven points, two boards and a block. She was a much-needed bench big for SU to deploy and provided another solid spark, this time allowing the Orange to stay in a much-closer affair against the Cardinals.

4th-quarter comeback

As most ACC battles have gone for Syracuse, its rematch with Louisville boiled down to the final quarter — one in which the Orange have consistently played their best basketball in. It was time for Fair, who’d been an inefficient 6-for-18 through three quarters, to replicate more fourth-quarter magic to deliver a statement win SU had been missing since Jan. 26.

Syracuse started to create consistent stops and made the Cardinals pay in transition. Coming off a Rickards miss, Fair bolted upcourt and finished a crafty layup at the rim to give SU a 69-68 advantage.

In response, though, Cochran got to the line and made both free throws to take back a one-point lead. Cochran finished at the rim again on Louisville’s next trip. Then, Kennedi Perkins stepped inside the arc for a wide-open mid-range jumper with 55.1 seconds left. The Orange trailed 72-71.

Syracuse forced a jump ball and earned possession back with 33.1 seconds left. On SU’s final trip downcourt, a long possession ended in Fair earning an intentional foul. She made both free throws and dribbled the ball out for another comeback victory.