Syracuse Basketball: Orange win two straight and will face Michigan State
Syracuse basketball won both of their first two matchups in the NCAA Tournament. A meeting with Michigan State approaches with the Sweet 16 on the line.
Syracuse wasn’t even supposed to get in the NCAA Tournament. Here they are, though, winning two straight and reaching the second round. The Orange got a great night out of their big three against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the First Four. In fact, only two other guys scored, combining for 10 points, in the First Four game.
Oshae Brissett dropped 23 points, grabbed 12 boards, and knocked down three 3-pointers. Tyus Battle scored 15, dished three assists, and made two 3-pointers. Frank Howard contributed 12 points, also hit two 3-pointers, grabbed three boards, and made two assists.
The other thing that Syracuse had going for them is that they held a high-powered offense who averages 82 points per game to just 56. The Sun Devils made their share of 3-pointers, but their starting frontcourt recorded only four points and seven boards.
Syracuse also had a great night on the glass. Arizona State shot 40% from the field. The Orange came up with 27 defensive boards to go along with 10 on the offensive end. Marek Dolezaj almost joined Brissett in double-digit rebounding as he hauled in nine.
The matchup on Wednesday night (vs. Arizona State) featured two teams who figured to be out of the NCAA Tournament. I’m not going to be the one to say that the win proves Syracuse deserved to be in now, though. What I am going to say is that whenever Jim Boeheim is your coach, you have a good chance at winning ball games.
Do you remember what happened two years ago when Syracuse was a No. 10 seed and their Tournament resume was up for debate? They went to the Final Four. Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange haven’t been a one-and-done in the Tournament since 2006.
Syracuse was then on to the field of 64 where they had a date with TCU on Friday night. This set up for a familiar match-up between head coaches. Jamie Dixon is in his second year as head coach of the Horned Frogs. He was the coach of Pittsburgh from 2003-2016. Dixon and Boeheim followed each other from the Big East to the ACC.
TCU has had a nice season. They went from winning the NIT last season to making the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed this season. The Frogs were ranked for eight straight weeks over the course of the season while peaking at No. 10 right after Christmas. A big reason for their success was from sophomore guard Jaylen Fisher. He averaged 12 points and five assists per game before getting hurt in the middle of January.
The question facing TCU was: Can they crack the Syracuse zone? Dixon certainly has seen enough of it in his career. TCU came into the game making over 250 3-pointers on the season, which was a good start.
The game never really got out of hand for either team Friday night. TCU is another team who is normally in the 80’s, but Syracuse slowed them way down with the zone. I’m not sure if it’s because Dixon hasn’t seen it in a few years, but the Frogs could not get their offense going like they normally do.
Give Syracuse and the supporting cast some credit. Dolezaj was the real star against TCU. He dropped 17 points, grabbed four boards, and hit only his second 3-pointer all season. Once again, there were two big-time rebounders for Syracuse. Brissett hauled in nine, but Paschal Chukwu led all players with 10. The big guy who only shoots 60% from the line made all six of his free throws. He also added a field goal to put his total at eight for the night.
TCU led 28-27 at the break thanks to Kenrich Williams getting hot at the right time. The second half featured more of the same. Dolezaj continued to have himself a night. His point total was three points shy of his season best. Syracuse, though, needed a guy like him to have this kind of night. Both teams shot under 40% for the night so another guy had to be the man in order for Syracuse to get the job done.
One would’ve thought that Syracuse was going to win with their guard play. Howard and Battle only combined for six made field goals. Dolezaj and Brissett, on the other hand, combined for 12.
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This could be a sneaky team moving forward. The zone seems to be only getting better. The guys who average over 38 minutes per game aren’t done yet. We could’ve easily written this saying the Orange lost because their guys are simply just tired. That’s not the case, though.
Syracuse draws Michigan State in the second round. This is a very underrated coaching match up. It’s going to feature two head coaches in the College Basketball Hall of Fame. Obviously, the state of how these two teams are now don’t dictate how great the two coaches really are.
The Spartans are playing great basketball, but the Orange are just lucky to be in. They’re both young, but Michigan State has the talent advantage. Their guys look like fifth-year seniors at times. The scary part, though, is you don’t want to be playing Syracuse when they have house money. We all saw what happened two years ago.