Louisville beats Syracuse to finish off a wacky week

Louisville had quite the week, didn't they?

On Thursday, after rumors leaked that Rick Pitino was headed to the Nets, the Cardinals put on one of their ugliest performances in recent memory. They got smoked by St. John's in the Garden, losing 73-54 in a game they never led and never really had a chance in.

It led to all sorts of speculation. Does Pitino still have this teams ear? Are the Nets rumors too much of a distraction? Where is Slick Rick going to end up next season?

Most importantly, however, was the issue of the tournament. Louisville was one of the very last teams in (or out) of the majority of the mock brackets that came out last week, and a 19 point loss to St. John's no doubt would push the Cardinals to the back of the pack.

Which brings us to Sunday.

Louisville picked up a huge win on Sunday.
(photo credit: NJ Star Ledger)

Louisville headed up to Syracuse in what Cardinal fans were calling the biggest game of the season. After another slow start saw Louisville dig themselves another hole, the Cardinals woke up midway through the first half.

Down 11 at one point, Louisville started hitting their threes, their defense started forcing some turnovers, Samardo Samuels finally woke up as he scored eight points in a four minutes stretch, and before you knew it, the Cardinals had taken a 59-52 lead.

But, as they have done so often this season, Louisville nearly blew this game at the end. They missed five of their seven free throws, including two front-ends, in the final two minutes. Raheem Buckles, who for some unknown reason was involved in the Louisville press break, turned the ball over with Louisville up just 62-60 in the final minute.

Buckles was saved when Wes Johnson missed on a tough drive to the rim, and two free throws from Jerry Smith all but sealed the win.

This win all but saved Louisville's season. Coming in, the Cards had just one win over an RPI top 50 opponent (Cincinnati). Now, they own a road win over a potential final four team.

Do they owe that win to Mike Marra?

Mike Marra hit a big three to help Louisville avoid blowing another late lead.
(photo credit: ESPN)

Marra didn't have a particularly impressive game. He did lead Louisville in scoring with 12 points, but he shot just 4-12 from the field (all threes) and tallied only four boards.

One of those rebounds, however, was an offensive rebound after Jared Swopshire had missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 with 1:41 left in the game as Syracuse had just trimmed a 59-52 lead down to three. 20 seconds later, after the ball had worked its way around the perimeter, Marra found himself open in the corner. He nailed the three, giving Louisville a 62-56 lead they never relinquished, although they came very close.

If Marra doesn't get that rebound or hit that three, does Louisville still win this game?

I don't think they do.

The bigger question may be what does this say about the Cardinals? Are they a team that can finish games? Its become a disturbing trend to see them blow games down the stretch. They were up 17 on Villanova and lost; they were up 10 with five minutes left against West Virginia and lost; they were up five with under a minute left against Pitt and lost.

Maybe a win like this is just what they needed to get their confidence back.

"We know we are a good team," Marra said. "We haven't really caught a break all season, but this is exactly what we needed. Hopefully it will get the ball rolling."