TV info, story lines for U of L-Syracuse

U OF L AT SYRACUSE

Game time: 7:01 p.m. Site: The Carrier Dome, Syracuse. Line: Louisville by six points. Series: Louisville leads 15-7 and won the last meeting, 78-61, in the 2013 Big East tournament. Television: ESPN (Bob Wischusen and Sean Farnham). Radio: WKRD-790 and WHBE-680.

PROJECTED STARTERS

SYRACUSE (16-9, 7-5 ACC)

Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Kaleb Joseph 6-3 Fr. 2.4 6.9

G-Trevor Cooney 6-4 Jr. 2.6 14.6

F-Michael Gbinije 6-7 Jr. 5.0 12.9

F-Tyler Roberson 6-8 So. 7.2 7.5

C-Rakeem Christmas 6-9 Sr. 9.2 17.7

Key reserves - BJ Johnson, F, 6-7, So., 3.7 pts.; Ron Patterson, G, 6-2, So., 2.3; Chinonso Obokoh, F, 6-9, So., 1.1.

LOUISVILLE (20-5, 8-4 ACC)

Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Quentin Snider 6-1 Fr. 1.1 2.0

G-Terry Rozier 6-1 So. 5.5 18.0

F-Wayne Blackshear 6-5 Sr. 4.6 10.9

F-Montrezl Harrell 6-8 Jr. 9.3 15.4

C-Chinanu Onuaku, 6-10 Fr. 4.7 3.2

Key reserves – Mangok Mathiang, C, 6-10, R-So., 2.9 pts.; Shaqquan Aaron, G, 6-7, Fr., 1.8; Anas Mahmoud, F, 7-0, Fr., 1.2; Anton Gill, G, 6-3, So., 2.6; Quentin Snider, G, 6-1, Fr., 2.0; Jaylen Johnson, F, 6-9, Fr., 1.3., Chris Jones (suspended)

STORY LINES

There are several obvious story lines whenever Syracuse plays U of L, the main one being Rick Pitino's long history at Jim Boeheim's protege and then friendly nemesis. The teams were Big East rivals, and they join up again in the ACC with a lot on the line. Louisville is in the thick of a hunt for a double bye in the ACC tournament and dead-locked in a tie for fourth place with UNC. After a surprising loss to NC State over the weekend, Louisville has a chance to take a one-game lead on Syracuse with a win. UNC plays Duke on Wednesday night.

Louisville's biggest problems have been bench depth and turnover creation. Perhaps they are one in the same, but Pitino on Monday said he'd like to make a few changes to improve his team's interior scoring. That's a big issue against Syracuse, a team, like U of L, that is known for its zone defense. Pitino said freshman big man Anas Mahmoud would have to play more, and anyone who doesn't get Montrezl Harrell the ball when he's open will come out of the game right away. Wednesday's a big opportunity to get those two going.

They aren't identical by any stretch, but there are quite a few similarities between Syracuse and U of L. In fact, Syracuse plays its bench less than Louisville, if you can believe that. The Orange only use the bench for 21.4 percent of minutes played. Louisville uses its bench for 28.4 percent of its minutes. But both teams would prefer to play a faster tempo, which means something's got to give on Wednesday.