Syracuse Basketball: Miami Hurricanes crystal ball predictions

Ryan Lee, contributor (22-8)

The regular-season finale for the Orange down in Miami. The Orange have an opportunity to close out the regular season as the five seed in the ACC Tournament. The Orange have another winnable game in the ACC, but just a week ago they proved that does not mean this is a foregone conclusion.

Miami is towards the bottom of the conference just like UNC was a week prior. The hurricanes really only have one quality win on the year. That was against Illinois in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in December.

The Hurricanes even though they have struggled, it has not come on the back of underclassmen such as teams like Pittsburgh. Only two freshmen, Isaiah Wong and Harlond Beverly average more than 20 minutes and have played more than 25 games on the year.

Chris Lykes is the leading scorer. The 5-foot-7 junior guard has only played in 25 games this year but leads the team as a solid three-point shooter (37%). More than a third of his shots this season have come from beyond the arch.

Lykes’ ability to find three-point shots will be a challenge for the Orange. If Miami is able to move the ball and Lykes is able to get lost in open spots like teams have done against the Orange on numerous occasions, the regular season might end poorly for the Orange.

Luckily for Syracuse, Miami is not a team that moves the ball with the pass very often, especially in the half-court. The Hurricanes only average 9.9 assist a game while their opponents have tallied almost 200 more against them and average 15.5

Syracuse as a team is not going to light it up with their own assist numbers, but even in a down year for their defense, it can clog down other team’s offense. This could be an opportunity for the Orange to make a needed step with their defense and to take out the Hurricanes and get confidence going into the ACC Tournament.

Syracuse 70 Miami 61