Syracuse 69, No. 12 Louisville 59: Rakeem Christmas racked up 29 points in a nearly flawless effort as the Orange upset the visiting Cardinals in ACC action.

Syracuse (17-9, 8-5) earned its first win against a ranked team this season, thanks in large part to Christmas, who finished 9-of-10 from the field and 11-of-13 from the foul line while adding eight rebounds and four blocks. Michael Gbinije chipped in 18 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Orange, who had lost four of their previous six games.

Terry Rozier had 17 points and Montrezl Harrell contributed 15 points and nine boards for Louisville (20-6, 8-5), which was playing its first game since announcing that Chris Jones - the team's third-leading scorer (13.6) and top assist man (3.7) - was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. Freshman Quentin Snider, who came in averaging two points, started in Jones' place and scored a career-high 13 points to go with four assists.

Christmas was 4-of-4 from the field in the first half en route to 11 points, although Syracuse still trailed 32-28 at the break. The senior center had a dunk, a jumper and two foul shots in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second half to rally the Orange in front, 44-43, and scored eight straight Syracuse points shortly thereafter as the hosts went ahead 54-50 with 6:16 to go.

Harrell found Chinanu Onuaku for a dunk to make it a one-possession game, but Gbinije knocked down two foul shots and then found Christmas for a layup and Tyler Roberson for a dunk to create a 60-52 advantage with 4 1/2 minutes remaining. Snider's 3-pointer with 1:21 left and Onuaku's dunk about 20 seconds later both cut the deficit to five points, but the Orange made seven of their final eight foul shots to hold on.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Snider's previous career high was seven points, accomplished twice in the first month of the season. ... Onuaku, whose brother Arinze played at Syracuse from 2005-10, posted eight points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinals. ... Roberson finished with 13 points and nine boards for the Orange, who overcame 4-of-17 shooting from their starting backcourt of Trevor Cooney and Kaleb Joseph.