Syracuse Basketball: NIT Matchup versus UNC Greensboro- Preview

Inside the Loud House tells you all you need to know for what should be a great NIT matchup between the UNC Greensboro and Syracuse Basketball in the Dome.

Syracuse Basketball had to wait an extra day due to a bad snowstorm, but they’ll get their shot at UNC Greensboro tonight at 7pm. The game which will be shown on ESPN2 can also be seen on the WatchESPN app and ESPN3.

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We could talk a lot about Jim Boeheim’s Greensboro comments and Greensboro’s reaction, but to be honest its worthless trash talk. I don’t think it will have any impact on the game tonight at all. I mean how can words about your college town really motivate you during a basketball game? Little to none.

Now most people who looked at the NIT bracket thought this might be an easy win for Syracuse Basketball. I disagree. Looking at the UNC Greensboro record and seeing a couple game tapes, I’ve seen that this club is totally capable of an upset. I don’t think that will happen, and hopefully not, but this Spartans team is no pushover. Let’s look at their resume:

UNC Greensboro Resume:

UNC Greensboro was 25-9 on the year according to ESPN.com. That’s right, 25 wins! Yes, they’re in an easy conference compared to the ACC, but still less than 10 losses and 20+ wins are pretty good numbers for any team in Division 1.

UNCG, as they are sometimes called, finished tied for first with East Tennessee State in the Southern Conference during the regular season. In their conference tournament, they fell just short of a bid to the NCAA’s to that same East Tennessee State in the SoCon Final, 79-74, according to ESPN.com. In that game they led by 7 at the half, 38-31.

The Spartans don’t have an impressive wins except two wins over the East Tennessee, who they eventually lost the NCAA bid to. How’s that for bad luck? They did play a close game against Wake Forest at home in December, losing by 3, but that’s about it when it comes to impressive performances. Most of teams they beat this year were sub-100 RPI teams or lower leading to the high number of wins.

Best Players:

UNC Greensboro couldn’t have gotten nearly as many wins as they had if they weren’t a talented bunch. So logically they must have some guys who can really score. After examination and watching a few tapes here’s what I found out:

The best scorer of this group is 6’3 Sophomore guard Francis Alonso. He scores 15.2 points per game and hits three’s at a 47% clip. He doesn’t share the ball much, only averaging 2 assists per game. His real weapon though is his ability at the free throw line, where he shoots 88%.

This team does not have much height, and their tallest player, Llyod Burgess at 6’11, hardly ever plays. Their tallest starter is 6’9 Senior Center R.J White, who is also their third leading scorer with 12.8 points per game. He averages 1 block per game and 7 rebounds, which is not bad for a guy his size.

Additionally, the other guard that may cause problems for Syracuse scoring-wise would be Senior point man Diante Baldwin. He scores 13.3 points per game, averages 4 assists, and grabs about 3 rebounds a game. He is an average 3-point shooter, shooting 38%.

Problems UNCG Could Have with Syracuse:

This team can shoot and drive the ball well at times. However, the Spartans struggle against good interior play which Syracuse has with Tyler Lydon under the Basket. Every team plays a zone at some point in the year, but they have never played against a zone quite like Syracuse’s.

Even though the 2-3 zone is not as good as in recent years, it has been better in front of our home crowd for some reason and I expect that to continue. This 2-3 zone has lots of length and I expect that will bother UNC Greensboro and force them to take lots of long jump shots and threes when they can’t penetrate the zone.

Also, even with a snowstorm hitting Syracuse hard, I expect a pretty good turnout for this NIT matchup. They have all been well attended games for Syracuse Basketball in the past.

Heck, I was there the day in 2007 when Syracuse Basketball set the NIT Attendance record for a game against San Diego State in the Carrier Dome with 26,752 fans. The environment was electric, like a playoff game. It was awesome, and I expect nothing less even with cold weather tonight. Though probably not a record number of fans (haha).

Prediction:

I think Syracuse will come out fast and strong and blow away the Spartans early. The grad transfers and seniors know they only have a few more minutes left in an Orange Uniform, so I expect them to play their hearts out and help put this game away. Furthermore, their one motivation now should be taking each game a day at a time, and if we do that, I think we can win this National Invitation Tournament.

My Prediction: Syracuse wins 83-67, and advances to the second round against Ole Miss.