Buddy Boeheim and Syracuse Basketball looks to stay hot against Houston Cougars

1. Marek Dolezaj needs to win his frontcourt battle

What makes this matchup interesting is that among the expected rotation players, neither team will present much size. That’s always been the case for the Cougars, whose four-guard lineups cause terror in the AAC. Even against teams that have size such as Rutgers, Houston’s defense and ability to prevent many post-up plays gives them plenty of mismatches to take advantage of.

That doesn’t mean opponents can’t find ways to take advantage themselves. In the case of Syracuse, this will be an opponent who actually is smaller than them. The ACC has a ton of size throughout the various frontcourt, which caused problems for this team in league play.

Among the seven rotation players for the Orange, Marek Dolezaj is the only one taller than 6’7, although he weighs just a bit over 200 pounds. In previous years, he played more at the power forward position but this season has been solely at the five-spot.

Dolezaj has succeeded, for the most part, averaging 10.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, and 3.3 apg and becoming more of a point-forward. He’ll need to play a big role on offense but also with rim protection against the slashing Cougars who’ll look to penetrate the 2/3 zone.

Dolezaj’s counterpart at the center position will be Justin Gorham, who averages 8.5 ppg and a team-leading 8.6 rpg. He was playing at an All-AAC level in the middle of the season, producing nine straight games of at least 10 rebounds. Gorham has struggled offensive in the past month but has still been a strong defender.

If Dolezaj can give around 10 points and win the rebounding battle against Gorham, that’ll give the Orange a boost not only on the inside but helps out the guards as well.