Syracuse and Oregon both look to salvage their 2K Classic appearance with a victory in the 3rd place game. Which ranked team ends up suffering back-to-back losses?
TV schedule: Friday, November 16, 4:30 pm ET. ESPN2
Arena: Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York
One of the more intriguing potential matchups this week was between Oregon and Syracuse, two ranked teams with second-weekend ceilings this season. Both were participants of the 2018 Empire 2K Classic and were considered the favorites in their respective semi-finals matchup. Unfortunately for each of them, the results landed them in the wrong side of the bracket.
No. 15 Syracuse (2-1) was up first. Without a key player in Frank Howard, they took on a resurgent UConn program under first-year head coach Dan Hurley. They took an early lead thanks to their ability to shoot over the Orange‘s zone and were able to pull ahead at the end for an 83-76 victory. The Huskies shot 12/21 from three-point range compared to Syracuse going just 6/22. What jumps out the most in the box score was the rebounding margin – with UConn dominating 46-32.
On the brightside for Syracuse, freshman guard Jalen Carey continues to amaze this early part of the season. He led all scorers last game with 26 points and seven rebounds in 38 minutes. East Carolina transfer Elijah Hughes also played well with 15 points to add. With Howard coming back soon, the Orange will have one of the best backcourts in the ACC season.
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The backcourt was an issue for No. 13 Oregon (2-1), with Pac-12 Player of the Year contender Payton Pritchard struggling all night in the Ducks’ 77-69 defeat to the Iowa Hawkeyes. He went 1/9 from the field to finish with five points total. He, Paul White, and Kenny Wooten combined to shoot 9/25 as starters. If it wasn’t for grad transfer Ehab Amin’s 25 points to lead Oregon, the game would’ve been a huge blowout.
What also should be taken into consideration is the zone that Iowa displayed against the Ducks. It worked effectively, with Oregon shooting 6/18 from deep. Bol Bol, the highly publicized 7’2 center finished with 14 points and five rebounds. He had four blocks as well but at times was easily backed down in the post by the Hawkeye bigs.
In this upcoming game, who Syracuse puts on Bol will be an important factor. Fellow 7’2 center Paschal Chukwu is important for the Orange to establish their 2-3 zone but helps out the young center as well, as the senior big man for Syracuse is a not-factor on offense. Coach Boeheim will have to decide early on how to approach that matchup. As for the guards, neither Pritchard or Syracuse’s Tyus Battle played well last night, so whoever rebounds individually will have a big effect on the outcome.
Although it’s unlikely that any of these teams in the 2K Classic will eventually be considered a “bad loss” in the future so whoever goes winless in this event shouldn’t panic. However, for seeding purposes and momentum continuing into the rest of the non-conference slate, a win would be helpful. Especially for Oregon, considering the any issues with the Pac-12 teams outside of UCLA. The Ducks might not have many more chances to get a quality win at this rate. With a veteran backcourt of Pritchard and Amin going up against the zone, look for the Ducks to pull ahead late.