How Syracuse Basketball Bounces Back Against UConn Will Prove Telling

The Syracuse basketball squad lost to No. 2 Kansas over the weekend. Next up is Connecticut, and the Orange’s response is critical.

Okay, my friends, let’s not hit the panic button. Not just yet, anyways.

Our beloved SU hoops outfit fell to No. 2 Kansas this past Saturday down in Miami. No surprise there. The ‘Cuse hung tough, never threw in the towel, and did some positive things.

Ultimately, though, the Jayhawks had too much firepower, particularly in the form of senior guard Devonte’ Graham. He stroked seven 3-pointers and finished with a whopping 35 points, as UK (7-0) cruised to a 76-60 victory.

Give Graham credit; he torched us. Graham is performing as well as anyone in the country, and he snarled Syracuse’s attempt at a massive comeback after intermission.

Look, I don’t want to sugarcoat the situation. Head coach Jim Boeheim’s crew has a plethora of work to do, if it wants to return to the Big Dance.

Graduate transfer Geno Thorpe has suddenly left the team, leaving us with only eight primary scholarship guys, including a mere three guards. Freshman Howard Washington is going to get more run, and I would characterize him as solid versus the Jayhawks.

The dilemma is that we don’t entirely know to what degree sophomore wing Tyus Battle’s back is hampering him. Junior point guard Frank Howard is doing incredibly well, however, he got into foul trouble in the Kansas affair. We simply can’t have that.

The Orange, in my humble opinion, displayed tremendous grit last Saturday evening. After

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crumbling early in the second half, the ‘Cuse found itself down 21 points. A blowout loomed on the horizon.

Yet Syracuse (6-1) managed to shrink the deficit down to seven points. I felt a ton of pride in watching that occur. Yes, the Jayhawks eventually surged to a sizable advantage as the contest concluded.

Consider this: if Graham doesn’t go into full-on beast mode, we shoot a tad better, and our boys learn how to jump-stop (thereby reducing their offensive fouls), the final result may have amounted to a loss of only four to eight points.

That’s not too shabby when dueling with the country’s second-best group.

Our 2-3 zone held Kansas nearly 20 points under its average to date in the 2017-18 campaign. Save for Graham, the Jayhawks didn’t fare so hot from downtown.

We out-rebounded Kansas, although you have to chalk that up, in part, to an abundance of missed field goals by SU.

Still, I believe that the Orange put forth a valiant effort against UK. And, moving forward, what will say a lot about JB’s bunch is how they counter versus Connecticut (6-2) on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic.

The 2016-17 roster showed, unfortunately, that one setback would snowball into several others. My gut tells me that this year’s squad is not going to allow that to transpire.

The Huskies are led by head coach Kevin Ollie, who won a national championship at the school in 2014. During this stanza, UConn has a quality triumph over Oregon, but also an ugly defeat at the hands of Arkansas.

In virtually every statistical category, Syracuse holds an edge against its former Big East foe. The programs generate roughly the same number of points, but the ‘Cuse is clamping down more effectively on defense.

Expect a sea of Orange inside Madison Square Garden tonight, when SU and Connecticut meet for the 94^th occasion. Approximately 12 months ago, we totally laid an egg at the end, enabling the Huskies to prevail, 52-50.

I hope for, and frankly demand, a different outcome this time around. The 2017-18 Syracuse basketball team has heart. Miles and miles of heart. It’s going to serve our players well as this term progresses.

People are noticing. Despite its stumble versus Kansas, the ‘Cuse collected 13 points in the “others receiving votes” department of the USA Today Coaches Poll released on Monday.

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Now, let’s conquer the Huskies and continue trending in a sweet direction toward a top-25 ranking.

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