Syracuse Basketball: Next foe, Villanova, is lethal from deep – problematic

Over the weekend, Syracuse basketball certainly looked better on defense at Florida State than the Orange has in other recent games, which is encouraging.

In fact, the ‘Cuse zone defense, which made a slight yet effective adjustment in the second half, is what enabled Syracuse basketball to prevail over the Seminoles down in Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday.

Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said the team’s defense won the FSU contest for the ‘Cuse, and I wholeheartedly agree with him. Now the Orange gets set for perhaps an even greater test, as the Syracuse basketball defense will face off with one of the best 3-point shooting squads around the country.

On Tuesday evening, the ‘Cuse (5-3, 1-0) will battle former Big East Conference rival Villanova (6-2), which is currently ranked in the top-10 nationally in both major polls, as part of the 2021 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Syracuse basketball will have to be laser-focused with its perimeter defense.

In the Orange’s 63-60 defeat of FSU, the Seminoles were woeful from deep, going 4-of-30. That translates to about 13 percent. My personal opinion is Florida State’s struggles from long range were in part due to the Syracuse basketball defense being good, but also because FSU had an off-night.

Villanova isn’t likely to have such a dreadful performance from beyond the arc. According to NCAA statistics, the Wildcats are in the top-10 across the country in 3-point shooting percentage, as well as 3-point makes per game.

Five of Villanova’s primary scorers connect on at least 37 percent from deep, per the ESPN Web site. Leading the charge is graduate student guard Collin Gillespie, who was a pre-season All-American.

Gillespie is averaging nearly 18 points per affair, and he’s hitting on a ridiculous 46.9 percent from 3-point land. The dilemma here for the Orange zone, though, is that it can’t just key in on Gillespie, with the Wildcats having multiple long-range specialists.

Another important facet is that Villanova only turns the ball over 8.5 times a game, which is exceptional. I feel like one thing that helps get the ‘Cuse going is securing transition buckets off of steals, but those kinds of opportunities may be hard to find versus the Wildcats.

Villanova, which captured recent national championships in 2016 and 2018, will contend for not only a Big East prize, but the Wildcats also can absolutely make a deep run next spring in March Madness.

To date in the 2021-22 stanza, Villanova’s three most notable games are close losses to highly rated UCLA on the road and Purdue at a neutral site, along with a thumping of top-25 Tennessee on a neutral floor.

In their long series together, Syracuse basketball leads Villanova, 39-33. Let’s see whether the Orange can pick up win No. 40 against the Wildcats on Tuesday.