It wasn't pretty, but the No.2 Orange passed a tough conference test on the road Monday, beating No. 18 Louisville 52-51.

C.J. Fair led Syracuse (26-1, 13-1 Big East) with 13 points, including a pair of key buckets down the stretch, followed by 11 points and six boards from Fab Melo.

Following an impressive shooting performance on Saturday, 'Cuse struggled scoring from the field against the Cardinals on Monday. Syracuse shot 34.4% percent from the floor and just 1-of-15 from 3-point range (6.7%).

Louisville (20-6, 8-5 Big East) mishandled the ball twice in the final thirty-seconds which prevented the Cardinals from getting off shot attempts. Peyton Siva drove to the hoop before his spinning pass attempt was intercepted by Dion Waiters. Then, with 1.7 seconds remaining Louisville couldn't control the in-bounds pass to get off a half court heave.

More From WIBX 950