Syracuse Basketball in the Sweet 16 versus Duke, by the numbers

As the Syracuse basketball squad gets primed for its Sweet 16 showdown against Duke, we take a look at some key metrics and stats.

‘Cuse Nation is all pumped up by the glorious run so far from the SU hoops outfit in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.

That journey now heads to Omaha, Neb., where on Friday night in the Sweet 16 of the Midwest Region, the No. 11 seed Orange (23-13) will clash with the No. 2 seed and fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member, Duke (28-7).

Since numbers are fun, let’s examine a bunch of them in preparation for this enticing encounter.

First and foremost, the Blue Devils are the heavy favorite, and that should surprise no one. As of Wednesday afternoon, VegasInsider.com pegs Duke as the preferred winner by 11.5 points.

Considering that Syracuse amounted to the final at-large team selected for this Big Dance, the

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Blue Devils rocked us by 16 at their venue in February, and we’ve yet to eclipse 60 points on offense in three tourney affairs, an 11.5-point spread doesn’t seem all that bad, right?

According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, we have roughly a 10 percent prospect of prevailing. That works, since we appear to enjoy serving as a massive underdog.

Between SU’s 2016 Final Four run as a No. 10 seed and the 2018 March Madness to date, the ‘Cuse is 7-1 as a double-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament, which represents the best winning percentage ever. Sounds good to me.

Overall, the Orange is 5-6 in its series with Duke, while head coach Jim Boeheim is 4-5 versus the Blue Devils’ legendary boss, Mike Krzyzewski. Long-time great friends, Krzyzewski and Boeheim are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, all-time as it pertains to career victories in Division I men’s basketball history.

During the 2017-18 campaign, Duke averages 85 points per contest, while giving up 65. The Blue Devils shoot 50 percent from the field, 71 percent from the free-throw line and 38 percent from beyond the arc.

Syracuse, meanwhile, produces 67 points a game and allows 54. We connect on 42 percent from the field, 74 percent from the charity stripe and 32 percent from downtown.

Duke corrals 42 rebounds, hands out 18 assists, collects five blocks, garners seven steals and commits 13 turnovers.

SU grabs 37 boards, dishes out 11 dimes, blocks six shots, creates seven steals and coughs up a dozen TOs.

The bevy of statistical categories provides fairly sizable edges to the Blue Devils. So be it. I say we throw all the data out the window at this juncture.

Nobody expected the Orange to remain in this NCAA Tournament past the first weekend, or the First Four for that matter.

March is maddening, and the ‘Cuse has a chance, albeit a slim one according to most folks.

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Continue that suffocating defense, get things going better on offense, and see if Boeheim can out-coach his buddy.

I can’t wait for Friday evening to get here!

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