Syracuse Basketball vs. Colgate: Game Preview

By David Stone | Dec 7, 2015

The Syracuse basketball team takes on Colgate on Tuesday in the Carrier Dome after back to back losses to Wisconsin and Georgetown.

So which team is going to show up against Colgate? Will it be the one that was on fire during the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament and won back to back games against ranked opponents? Or will it be the team that got out-hustled, out-rebounded, and out-played by both Wisconsin and Georgetown?

I certainly don’t think it was very fair or just that Hopkins had to start his coaching career against Georgetown with just two days to prepare, but I’m not the NCAA and I don’t make up their flippant rulings. Thankfully, Colgate should provide the opportunity for Syracuse to get back on track.

Colgate comes into the game with a 2-5 record, having also lost two straight games. The difference is, unlike Syracuse who played two excellent programs, Colgate lost to barely mid-major Binghamton and a TCU team that looks to finish in the bottom of the Big 12. They’ve also got losses to Fordham, Albany, and Cornell.

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Colgate’s biggest problem is on offense, where they have just one player averaging more than 10 points per game. That man is 6′ senior guard Austin Tillotson. Austin is averaging just over 12 points a game and also leads the team with 5.4 assists per contest.

He hasn’t shot particularly well from the outside so far, but he was a 40%+ shooter in his last two season, so he can definitely light it up when he’s left open. Aside from Tillotson, there are three other Colgate players who have been playing relatively well this season.

Jordan Swopshire is a 6’6 sophomore who’s averaging 9 points a game and shooting 38% from 3. Tom Rivard is a 6’7 sophomore who’s getting 9 points and 4 rebounds a game. Alex Raymon is their other senior guard and is also averaging about 9 points per game. The trio, combined with Tillotson, have provided the main scoring punch for Colgate.

Thankfully, Colgate is a very poor rebounding team. They are averaging just 34.1 rebounds per contest, which ranks 287th nationally. Syracuse is not all that much better, averaging just 36 a game. Rebounding has been the Achilles’ heel of this team, so hopefully they can step it up against a poor rebounding team in Colgate and not get killed on the glass.

Honestly, as much of a matchup advantage as SU has, I’m really not sure how this game will play out. I fully expect Syracuse to win based on sheer size and athleticism, but the effort has been completely lacking from this team all season. Aside from a couple games in the Bahamas where they got incredibly hot from 3, this team has been out-hustled in every game they’ve played. I’m not trying to hate on the team, it’s just the honest truth.

They are getting beaten to almost every loose ball and many times guys are just standing around and watching instead of boxing out for rebounds. It’s been a huge issue this year and if it doesn’t get corrected soon, it could be a very long season for the Orange.

Look for Coach Hopkins to give some more playing time to guys like Dajuan Coleman, Franklin Howard, and Kaleb Joseph. Howard and Coleman definitely showed that they both deserve to see the floor more after each had a decent game against Georgetown. Joseph has been incredibly inconsistent in the early-going, so hopefully this game will give him a chance to get some easy baskets and some confidence.

Even though SU has been playing poor of late, I fully expect them to turn it up in this game and I don’t think Colgate will be able to match their scoring ability. I’m hoping for a blowout, but since SU hasn’t blown out anyone this year, I’ll settle for a 10-point win.

Check back tomorrow for more coverage of the game and a complete recap once it finishes. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter if you can’t watch the game, as I will be live tweeting as much as possible.

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