Finally, after many nervous moments last night, Syracuse basketball was placed into the NCAA tournament field; a 10 seed going up against the 7 seed Dayton Flyers.
We all pretty much know everything there is to know about Syracuse basketball at this point. We know the seven guys that will see playing time. We know what the team likes to do and what their weaknesses are. Now let’s take a brief glimpse at the Dayton Flyers as we begin our coverage of the NCAA tournament.
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Dayton was 25-7 this year and 14-4 in the A-10. They were regular season conference champs, but lost in their tournament semifinals to St. Joseph’s. In fact, much like SU, Dayton did not have a strong finish to the season, losing four of their last eight games. One of those was a 79-72 loss to St. Bonaventure, a team Syracuse basketball beat by 13 points.
That is the only shared opponent on Dayton’s entire schedule, making it tough to truly compare these two teams. So instead of looking at common opponents, let’s look at some of the number comparisons.
Dayton scored 73.2 points per game this season to Syracuse’s 70.2. They averaged 38.6 rebounds per contest to SU’s 35.5. Defensively, Dayton gave up 65.8 points per game, good for 38th in the nation. The Orange came in one spot higher with 65.7 points per contest given up.
As you can see, a lot of these numbers are pretty similar. One thing I’d have to give the edge to Syracuse on is strength of schedule. Syracuse basketball was 39th in strength of schedule. Dayton was 49th. When you go to conference strength of schedule, that gap widens immensely. Syracuse was 37th, while Dayton was 105th.
The reason this is so important is because the last half of the season is nothing but conference games. A team shows who they really are later in the season. Although Syracuse lost a lot of games down the stretch, they also had a much, much tougher run through the ACC than Dayton did in the A-10. This to me is a distinct advantage for the Orange, who are battle-tested on every front and weren’t just padding their resume with easy wins down the stretch.
Another big positive for the Orange is that the Flyers are not a very big team. Yes they rebound it well, but they aren’t all that long. They have a 6’11” freshman in Steve McElvene, but he only averages 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 18 minutes per contest. He’s not a dominant low post player, something that SU has struggled with all season.
Outside of McElvene, no one that sees decent playing time is taller than 6’6. This is huge for SU, a team that has been out-rebounded all season against larger foes. If Tyler Roberson actually shows up to play, he could have a monster game, as could Lydon and even Coleman, at least on the glass.
Dayton has four scorers who average more than 10 points per game. They are led by Charles Cooke, who is averaging 15.7 points and 6 rebounds while also shooting 41% from 3-point range. He isn’t a volume shooter, making just 57 threes in 32 games, but he is accurate.
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The three other main threats for Dayton are Dyshawn Pierre (13 points, 8.6 rebounds, 35% 3s), Scoochie Smith (11.7 points, 4.3 assists, 37% 3s), and Kendall Pollard (10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds).
Dayton is a fairly balanced team and should be a good match for Syracuse basketball. Continue to check back throughout the week for more coverage of this game and some in-depth analysis.