Syracuse Basketball: Top 5 questions ahead of Florida State matchup

3. Everyone knows about the 2-3 zone, one of the ways to beat it is with some long-range attacks. How capable are the Seminoles from deep? Who can hurt the Orange?

"“This is an area that concerns me in this game. At times, the Noles are ridiculously good from long-range. They have several games where they have made nearly or more than 50 percent of their three-point shots. Then they have games like against Duke where they go 3 of 18 and can’t buy a bucket. Vassell, Walker and Malik Osborne are fairly consistent from deep at around 40 percent each. Wyatt Wilkes has been hot the past few games too with Anthony Polite being serviceable at times.”"

4. This FSU team seems different than last year how have the Seminoles overcome the loss of Mfiondu Kabengele, Terance Mann how has the team changed?

"“It is a different team as they are not near as good defensively overall. They average a lot of steals and blocks per but give up entirely too many easy baskets. Losing two players who were drafted is always tough to replace when you don’t land 3-4 All-Americans every recruiting cycle. Devin Vassell has emerged into the goto guy with Trent Forrest being Mr. Do It All. However, they don’t have the same low-post presence as in years past. They will settle for way too many jump shots which is infuriating.”"

5. How do you see this one playing out on Saturday?

"“FSU is tough to beat at home but if they don’t shoot it well it could get interesting. The good news is Syracuse doesn’t shoot it necessarily well and doesn’t have quite the depth the Noles bring. ESPN’s BPI gives the Noles an 83.5 percent chance of winning. I’m not quite that confident, but I like the Noles to win this one something like 76-70.”"