Syracuse Basketball: Orange can’t get complacent vs struggling Miami

Syracuse basketball needs to capture the ACC Tournament title next week to reach March Madness, but the Orange better not overlook Miami this Saturday.

The ups and downs, and highs and lows, of the 2019-20 regular season for Syracuse basketball will come to a conclusion this Saturday afternoon, as the Orange heads to Miami.

The ‘Cuse (17-13, 10-9), with its one returning starter from a stanza ago and relatively young roster, performed poorly in the non-conference slate, but it has shown signs of improvement during the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of the calendar.

Many Syracuse fanatics are extremely disappointed at the current state of the Orange program, given the likelihood that the ‘Cuse will miss out on the Big Dance for the three instance in six terms. However, I believe that Syracuse is precisely where the Orange figured to ultimately reside.

With an inexperienced line-up, I didn’t necessarily expect the ‘Cuse to notch 20-plus victories in the regular campaign. The offense, by and large, is solid. The defense, on the flip side, is porous.

Yes, it’s true that Syracuse is a few plays here and there from possessing multiple additional conquests. Conversely, the Orange squeaked out a handful of wins. It’s mostly a wash, to me.

So now here we are, with the ‘Cuse traveling to the Hurricanes (14-15, 6-13). Syracuse, if it beats Miami, has an opportunity to clinch the No. 5 seed in the ACC Tournament that commences next week.

The Hurricanes, at No. 105 in the NCAA NET system, are pretty dreadful at this juncture in 2019-20. I mean no disrespect, but facts are facts. Miami has dropped three in a row, at Notre Dame, at Georgia Tech and home versus Virginia, albeit by two points.

In taking a deep dive into the Hurricanes, they are almost credible on offense, scoring 71.5 points per affair, and No. 1 in the league in shooting from the charity stripe, at 75.6 percent. The Orange has to remain cautiously aggressive, because it doesn’t want to give Miami easy points from the free-throw line.

Where the Hurricanes have a tough time is, like the ‘Cuse, on defense. Miami is second from the bottom in the ACC in points allowed per encounter, at 73.7.

What’s more, the Hurricanes give up a field-goal percentage of 44.5, which is worst in the conference. They are also in the basement as it pertains to 3-point field-goal percentage defense, at 34.6.

Syracuse has to take advantage of these facets and regain its mojo from beyond the arc, although the Orange shouldn’t entirely steer away from its recent success of driving to the hoop and scoring effectively in the paint.

By extension, Miami is woeful in both offensive and defensive rebounding. That’s another area where the ‘Cuse must capitalize.

Despite all of this context, Syracuse can’t discount the Hurricanes. Throughout the course of 2019-20, Miami has defeated Illinois and Clemson on the road, Temple at a neutral site, and Virginia Tech twice. The Hurricanes also took highly rated Florida State to an extra session, before falling by four points.

Miami has a pair of guards who are certainly capable of shredding the Orange zone. Junior Chris Lykes is generating 15.2 points a game and hitting on 37.4 percent from 3-point land. Senior Dejan Vasiljevic is tallying 12.9 points per meeting and connecting on 33.9 percent from 3-point range.

One unfortunate caveat for the Hurricanes here is that Lykes suffered an injury against the Cavaliers, and his status for Saturday is unknown.

Overall in their series together, the ‘Cuse is ahead, 19-8, and it has claimed two straight. Syracuse has to stay laser-focused if it wants to push that streak versus Miami to a trio of consecutive triumphs.