LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Andrew White has grown accustomed to being highlighted on opponents’ scouting reports. As Syracuse’s leading scorer, he knows defenses will dare him to play outside his comfort zone. He’s been forced to drive and create for teammates more and more as the season has progressed.

Not once all season have opponents had as much success as No. 10 Duke and No. 7 Louisville in the past two games. White scored seven points each time, tying his worst scoring output in a two-game stretch this year.

“It’s frustrating when you’re not getting your ideal shot,” White said. “… I don’t ever want to try and do too much because I’m pretty good at playing to my strengths.”

Louisville (23-6, 11-5 Atlantic Coast) took down Syracuse (17-13, 9-8), 88-68, on Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. White, a graduate transfer, went 3-of-10 from the field and 1-of-8 from behind the arc. He’s now 8-for-36 from 3 in the Orange’s past four games.

Less than seven minutes into the contest, White launched a shot that didn’t even touch the rim or the backboard. UofL fans reminded him throughout the rest of the first half with “Airball!” chants when he touched the ball. As defenses have honed in on White, he’s finally hit a skid in his lone season as Syracuse’s workhorse.

“We play him as if he has no dribble,” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. “We get up, we sit on his right hand. And that’s what probably a lot of teams are doing to him right now.”

With about 10 minutes left, White drove from the right corner along the sideline. He didn’t have any room to shoot so he was forced to attack, something he’s not as strong at. He drew a foul on the Cardinals’ Anas Mahmoud then went to the line to shoot a one-and-one and missed the first. He didn’t score his first points of the game until 45 seconds later.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said UofL defended White the same way as freshman guard Tyus Battle. The difference was that Battle effectively drove inside and finished with 20 points on 4-of-9 field goals inside the arc.

“They’re just staying with him. He’s just got to put it on the floor,” Boeheim said. “… The last two games, that’s exactly what’s happened. He’s got to put the ball on the floor in those situations.”

Louisville’s matchup zone defense flustered White and forced him into contested shots. The Cardinals didn’t allow any space for him to shoot comfortably and essentially dared him to beat them on the dribble. The problem for SU was that he couldn’t.

Sunday’s contest was Syracuse’s last chance to notch a respectable road victory. And when it faced a 23-point second-half deficit, the Orange could have used some points from its leading scorer. White scored seven in just over the final nine minutes of the game, but SU was too deep in a hole to climb out.

“Untraditional defenses like Louisville’s matchup zone, Georgia Tech’s a little bit, it’s a little harder to find those gaps,” White said. “But it’s a crucial part of the year so me, everybody else, we have to find ways to put pressure on the rim and pressure on the defenses so that we can score.”

Published on February 26, 2017 at 7:13 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds