The No. 1 ranked NCAA men's basketball team in the country has fallen once again today, Jan. 19, 2013. In a battle of the best of the Big East, Louisville hosted Syracuse as the Cardinals anticipated another win in their already high flying season.
However, Syracuse traveled to Louisville in hopes of managing to keep their record unblemished on the season and to ensure they would gain ground from their current No. 6 ranking in the NCAA Top 25.
The Orange Men did just that as the pulled off a 70-68 win on the road to see their chances of taking Louisville's place at the top of the new rankings next week jump drastically. With an impressive 17-1 record (5-0 in conference play), Syracuse are one of the few remaining one loss teams in the NCAA.
Strong performances from guards Brandon Tiche, 23 points and six rebounds, and Michael Carter-Williams who scored 16 points while adding six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Forward's C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant both added ten points on the night.
Following his teams victory, Carter-Williams was interviewed by ESPN with quotes proving his winning mentality shining through in his words:
I wasn't going to go out without a fight. They were pressuring us, coming at us in the first half. Things were going their way.
The second half, I tried to fight back the best I could. I had two or three turnovers but I just kept flipping the page, flipping the page and ended up winning the game, which was great. ...
Those free throws, I just had to have faith in myself and just try to do anything to get the win.
Louisville guard Russ Smith lead the Cardinals with 25 points, but outside of his strong scoring performance no other player on the home side scored in double figures as the team were stifled all around the court.
Syracuse should without a doubt crack the top five this next week and Louisville could be knocked down into the top 10 from their most coveted place in college basketball.
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