No. 9 Louisville 58, No. 12 Syracuse 53: Russ Smith scored 18 points and came up with several critical plays late as the Cardinals sent the host Orange to their third straight loss.

Gorgui Dieng posted his eighth double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds for Louisville (24-5, 12-4 Big East), which pulled to within a half-game of conference-leading Georgetown. The Hoyas host Rutgers later Saturday.

C.J. Fair led all scorers with 19 points, James Southerland added 13 off the bench and Michael Carter-Williams tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Syracuse (22-7, 10-6), which is on its longest skid since losing four straight from Jan. 17-29, 2011.

The Cardinals held the biggest advantage by either team at 47-40 on a 3-pointer by Luke Hancock, but the Orange rolled off eight unanswered points – including six straight from Carter-Williams – to take the lead. Smith knotted the game at 48 with a free throw with 1:39 left following Fair’s go-ahead baseline jumper.

Seconds after a Louisville timeout, Smith drove the lane and found Hancock near the left baseline for a wide-open, go-ahead 3-pointer. Smith rebounded Carter-Williams’ 3-point miss on the next possession and combined with Kevin Ware to hit seven of the Cardinals’ last eight free-throw attempts to send Syracuse to its second straight loss at the Carrier Dome following a 38-game home winning streak.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Louisville ended its three-game losing streak against the Orange. … Syracuse scored 19 points in the first half – a season low for the Orange in any half. … Cardinals coach Rick Pitino’s teams with Kentucky and Louisville have won 11 of their last 15 meetings against his former mentor, Orange coach Jim Boeheim.