The Syracuse Orange (7-4) men’s basketball team hopes to get back on track tomorrow afternoon when they host the Northeastern Huskies (4-5). The action starts at 4:00 in the JMA Dome and streaming on ACCNX. Here’s what we’re watching for in this one:
Kevin: Defending the Perimeter
Northeastern is shooting 31% from 3 this year, but they had a 10-18 performance against Wake Forest. I have felt that the Orange have done a poor job the last 3 games of chasing opponents off the line and into the rim protection
of William Kyle. Can they do a better job of closing out and contesting in this one? The Huskies offense is not strong, but Syracuse needs to get tougher at defending the arc before ACC play begins.
Dom: Overall intensity
It’s been a consistent theme in recent games, but the Orange are coming out too flat or letting opponents they should comfortably beat hang around. The game against Mercyhurst left a lot to be desired, and a lot of it centered on energy and consistency from tip-off to the final sound of the buzzer. The “ramp up” can’t be once the ACC slate starts; it needs to be in these last few games before the opponents get better in quality and the room for error becomes smaller.
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What will you be watching for?
