Syracuse Basketball: Miami Hurricanes crystal ball predictions

Neil Adler, contributor (20-10)

The Syracuse basketball squad wraps up its 2019-20 regular season when the Orange makes a trip to the Sunshine State to square off with Miami this Saturday afternoon.

The ‘Cuse (17-13, 10-9), in its last outing, went to Boston College and throttled the Eagles by 13 points. As far as the upcoming Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament goes, should Syracuse conquer the Hurricanes (14-15, 6-13), the Orange will clinch the No. 5 seed in that event, which begins next week. Miami, meanwhile, is presently in a three-way tie for 12th place in the league standings, after the Hurricanes fell in heart-breaking fashion earlier this week, at home, to a ranked Virginia crew by two points.

This encounter between the ‘Cuse and Miami will get going at 4:00 p.m. from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., with the ACC Network providing television coverage. Syracuse has fared extremely well away from the Hill in conference clashes to date.

As such, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index says that the Orange possesses a 50.5 percent chance to prevail. The Hurricanes, to put it bluntly, have struggled in 2019-20.

From a statistical perspective, Miami averages 71.5 points per meeting and allows 73.7 points, which is among the worst in the ACC. The Hurricanes connect on 43.3 percent from the field, a strong 75.6 percent from the charity stripe and 31.8 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, Miami secures 34.2 rebounds, a sub-par 9.9 assists, 3.8 blocks and 5.9 steals a game, while committing 12.1 turnovers.

The ‘Cuse holds an advantage versus the Hurricanes in virtually every data department, so Syracuse has an excellent shot to come out on top. I don’t foresee scoring as an issue for the Orange, but the ‘Cuse better tighten up its 2-3 zone. Ultimately, Syracuse is the more talented team, and the Orange will notch another success outside of Central New York, besting Miami by a count of 77-70.