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

3. Get Alan Griffin back going

For those who don’t turn into college basketball until after the Super Bowl, you’d be surprised to know that at one point, Alan Griffin was the best player for Syracuse. He was averaging over 18 ppg and shooting absurd numbers in the first half of the season.

The 6’5 transfer wing from Illinois truly was one of the most impactful transfers this season, scoring 20+ points eight times and reaching at least 10 points in 15 of the first 18 games. However, Griffin has reached a slump in the past month, scoring five or fewer in five of the past nine outings. That includes the last three games, scoring a combined six points in postseason play.

The minutes for Griffin have been disappearing, with reserve forward Robert Braswell taking advantage. He’s certainly been good when on the court but Syracuse has been very reliant on Boeheim on offense and against the best team remaining in the Midwest Region, will need more than him to win this one.

Besides on offense, Griffin will be tasked with defending multiple guards for Houston, including  Dejon Jarreau, a 6’5 athlete who’s averaging 10.5 ppg and 5.3 rpg. He suffered an injury against Rutgers last week and the team has said that he’ll be hopefully 75-80% for this one.

Braswell isn’t the type of player to take advantage of Jarreau not being 100% but Griffin; at least the early season version can. If he can have a major impact on both ends of the court, Syracuse Basketball could be looking at an Elite 8 matchup.