Kansas vs. Syracuse: College basketball game preview, TV schedule
The Kansas Jayhawks have risen to the No. 2 spot in this week’s rankings. Could it be in jeopardy in neutral court game with a Syracuse team that’s been surprisingly good so far?
TV schedule: Saturday, Dec. 2, 5:30 p.m. ET. ESPN
Arena: American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida
Kansas (6-0) has been one of the more potent offensive units in all of college basketball this season. They rank in the top ten in offensive rating so far and have scored at least 90 points in five of the six games played this season.
Their latest victim was Toledo who was drubbed 96-58. The star for the Jayhawks was senior leader Devonte Graham, who scored a career-high 35 points. He’d gotten off to a slow start in terms of putting the ball into the hole, so this outburst was good to see. Of course, he’s still one of the best in the nation in passing, dishing out 8.5 apg.
He joins former role players turned key guys Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (18.2 ppg) and Udoka Azubuike (16.0 ppg) as the go-to scorers on offense. Azubuike, in particular, is important, as he’s their only true frontcourt option on the active roster. Especially with the indefinite absence of Billy Preston, whose compliance issues pertaining to his car keeping him out.
That leaves Kansas with a small, seven-man rotation which will be tested against the 2-3 zone of Syracuse (6-0). Their first five wins were with underwhelming opponents, but the home win to Maryland this week was impressive. The same three players who’ve played well all season did it again against the Terrapins.
Sophomore Tyus Battle led the team with 18 points on 7/14 shooting. Frank Howard had 10 assists to go along with 15 points, which is the same number as freshman Oshae Brissett, adding 13 rebounds. Neither of these two shot well, but each played all 40 minutes for Jim Boeheim’s very short bench.
Battle of the bigs
Neither team has much size on their roster, but Azubuike vs. Paschal Chukwu of the Orange is a battle of strengths. The Jayhawks’ center is very talented offensively, while the Providence transfer is averaging 3.0 bpg so far and is a terror in that zone. Syracuse doesn’t do too much work down low, but the absence of Chukwu would a huge minus if any foul trouble occurs.
How Kansas attacks the zone
The game will ultimately depend upon how well Syracuse deals with the Orange’s zone. On paper, Bill Self has the perfect set of players to take on Syracuse. A veteran ball handler in Graham up top, shooters to spread the floor and athletes to drive in, and a big man inside to keep the help honest. That being said, there’s no amount of practice that can prepare a team for this kind of zone.
Next: Michigan State-Notre Dame by the positions
There’s only the game against Maryland, but Syracuse does have the players to make this at least a competitive game. But the gap in talent makes this an unlikely upset, barring a complete meltdown to the zone.
Prediction: Kansas 83 – Syracuse 71