Syracuse basketball defense has a big challenge vs. Indiana’s star forward

Syracuse basketball, having lost three of its past four non-conference clashes, heads into its battle with Indiana on Tuesday night as a slight underdog, as we noted in a separate column.

The Orange (3-3) and the Hoosiers (6-0) are suiting up on the Hill as part of this season’s ACC-Big Ten Challenge, an annual event for which the ‘Cuse has struggled in, although Syracuse basketball did defeat Indiana in the challenge, 69-52, in December of 2013.

However, in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the Orange is 3-5, with wins against the Hoosiers, Ohio State and Maryland. The ‘Cuse has fallen, though, to Michigan, Wisconsin twice, Iowa and, in the most recent stanza, on the road to Rutgers.

When Syracuse basketball and its struggling 2-3 zone defense match up with Indiana on Tuesday evening, the Orange will have its hands full trying to contain the Hoosiers star forward, Trayce Jackson-Davis.

Syracuse basketball has a tall task against Indiana in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Similar to ‘Cuse senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim, Jackson-Davis landed on a ton of pre-season All-America squads ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

The 6-foot-9 Jackson-Davis, a junior forward, is putting up monster numbers to date in the current season. According to his bio on the ESPN Web site, Jackson-Davis is averaging 20.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, while connecting on a stellar 66.2 percent from the field.

As a collective unit, Indiana is averaging 77.5 points per affair while allowing 57.2 points, and the Hoosiers have a 20-point edge over Syracuse basketball as far as points given up on defense a game.

That’s a concerning statistic, as the Orange’s 2-3 zone hasn’t looked good during its past four games, which were a conquest of Arizona State, along with setbacks to Colgate, VCU and top-20 Auburn.

Indiana shoots at a 50.0-percent clip from the field, which is terrific, as well as a respectable 36.8 percent from beyond the arc, although the Hoosiers aren’t all that great from the charity stripe.

Mike Woodson, a former NBA head coach who is in his first stanza leading Indiana, has the Hoosiers off to a strong start in 2021-22. That being said, Indiana hasn’t played a ton of tough competition to date, with its best victory so far likely a two-point win versus St. John’s.

Because the Hoosiers shoot the ball quite well, and the ‘Cuse defense is a bit of a work in progress, Syracuse basketball will have to really lock in when Indiana is navigating the 2-3 zone.

Orange players will also have to hold their own on the glass. One area where, hopefully, the ‘Cuse can exploit the Hoosiers is in the turnover department. Indiana commits 15.3 miscues per contest, and Syracuse basketball needs to create a lot of deflections and steals, and convert them into easy transition buckets.