Syracuse Basketball: Predictions for St. Bonaventure showdown

Neil Adler (8-4)

Prediction: Syracuse wins 74-62

The Syracuse basketball squad wraps up the non-conference slate of its 2018-19 campaign when the Orange hosts St. Bonaventure on Saturday afternoon in a nationally televised affair on ESPNU.

SU (8-4) snapped its two-game home skid when it crushed Arkansas State by 30 points last Saturday, improving the ‘Cuse to 7-2 inside the Carrier Dome. The Bonnies (4-8), meanwhile, have lost a bunch of their scoring output from a season ago. They have dropped three contests in a row and sport a 0-3 mark on the road so far in the 2018-19 term.

ESPN.com’s match-up predictor says that Syracuse has an 88.8 percent chance to succeed in this Empire State duel. I’m hopeful that the SU roster will bring a lot of energy to this battle, especially considering that St. Bonaventure notched a somewhat surprising overtime victory against the Orange on the Hill in 2017-18.

The ‘Cuse definitely needs to close out non-conference competition on a positive note, with Atlantic Coast Conference play looming in the near future. These two programs are fairly even in many statistical categories, however, despite Syracuse’s struggles, the Orange does appear as the more talented group. I would never count out the Bonnies, but I’m going with SU in this one, 74-62.