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NCAA Basketball: Dayton, Oklahoma State excel and more weekly takeaways

By Brian Rauf

LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 26: Obi Toppin #1 of the Dayton Flyers celebrates after throwing down a dunk during the second half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 26, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI - NOVEMBER 26: Obi Toppin #1 of the Dayton Flyers celebrates after throwing down a dunk during the second half against the Virginia Tech Hokies at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 26, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 06: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a play against the Virginia Cavaliers during the first half at the Carrier Dome on November 6, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 06: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a play against the Virginia Cavaliers during the first half at the Carrier Dome on November 6, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /

4) Syracuse is one of the worst teams in the ACC

Syracuse is another team struggling mightily but, unlike Texas Tech, I don’t expect the Orange to turn things around this year. I picked them to finish 11th in the ACC at the start of the season and they’ve validated all the concerns I had about them during their 4-3 start.

Offensively, the Orange have lacked any explosiveness. Putting the 34-point debacle against Virginia aside, they have relied on Elijah Hughes and their three-point shooting to carry them. Hughes has put up some solid numbers (19.0 points per game) but the lack of playmakers – and players who can create their own shots – hurts their three-point shooting.

In their losses to Oklahoma State and Penn State this week, the Orange shot just 14/53 (26.4 percent) from long-range. The only other game Syracuse has played against KenPom top 100 competition was against UVA, and they only shot 17.2 percent from deep in that game.

Of course, poor shooting wouldn’t matter as much if they were able to pick up the slack defensively, but this group isn’t equipped to do that. They gave up 86 points to the Cowboys and 85 to the Nittany Lions, neither of whom are particularly good offensive teams. After the loss to Penn State, Jim Boeheim told reporters that he was pretty down on his team.

"“I thought this team would take a while. I thought it would take 10 or 12 games. I don’t know if it’ll be done in 15 or 20 games.”"

Simply put, this team doesn’t have the personnel to get to where Boeheim wants them to be. They lack scoring outside of Hughes and are an average (at best) defensive team.

It’s going to be a long year for fans of the Orange.

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