Syracuse Basketball: Expecting offensive fireworks in regular-season finale

When Syracuse basketball and a really good Miami group went toe to toe down in South Florida earlier in the 2021-22 campaign, there was a ton of offense produced.

That will probably prove true again this Saturday afternoon as the Orange and the Hurricanes battle on the Hill in an Atlantic Coast Conference rematch to wrap up the 2021-22 regular season.

In their first encounter together from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., the ‘Cuse had an 18-point lead in the first half, only to fall to Miami by one point, 88-87.

That setback is one of numerous really close losses by Syracuse basketball in the present stanza, as the Orange has sometimes been unable to prevail in tight ballgames.

If the ‘Cuse (15-15, 9-10) is hoping to exact revenge on the Hurricanes (21-9, 13-6), the Syracuse basketball zone has to be locked in, and the Orange is likely going to need to put a bunch of points on the scoreboard.

Syracuse basketball will head to the ACC Tournament after facing off with Miami.

‘Cuse head coach Jim Boeheim, in his 46th stanza at the helm of the Orange, is in danger of having his first losing term with the team. Beating the Hurricanes would go a long way toward keeping that winning-seasons streak intact, and then Syracuse basketball will travel to Brooklyn, N.Y., for the 2022 ACC Tournament.

While the Orange’s overall record isn’t good in 2021-22, the ‘Cuse is a solid 11-4 at home. Conversely, Miami is fabulous on the road, with the Hurricanes presently 9-2 in true road affairs.

In the ACC Tournament, Syracuse basketball is already set in a March 9 match-up pitting the No. 8 seed versus the No. 9 seed. The ‘Cuse will play Florida State here, and it’s just a question of which squad gets which seed.

For Miami, bracketologists generally deem the Hurricanes as an NCAA Tournament team, likely hovering around the No. 11 seed line. The Hurricanes and the Orange, at the time of this writing, were both rated as top-20 overall units via KenPom as it relates to adjusted offensive efficiency.

Miami is hovering around the top four in the ACC standings, and the Hurricanes own one of the best conference performances in 2021-22, having gone to then-No. 2 Duke and defeated the Blue Devils in January. If you want to take a look at Miami’s entire schedule to date, click here.

The Hurricanes, in their most recent game, took care of Boston College on the road earlier this week. Miami, at No. 60 in the NET rankings and No. 60 overall at KenPom when I penned this column, takes care of the ball quite well, only committing 9.6 turnovers per contest.

The Hurricanes will thoroughly test the Syracuse basketball beleaguered zone defense, as Miami scores about 75 points a game while hitting on 47.5 percent from the field, 35.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe.

Where the Orange appears to have an advantage is on the boards, as the ‘Cuse corrals 35.7 rebounds per encounter, as compared to 30.4 rebounds a game for the Hurricanes.

As Syracuse basketball has dropped three-straight ACC bouts, at Notre Dame, to top-10 Duke and at North Carolina, the Orange has gotten pretty well hammered on the glass.

If the ‘Cuse wants to enter the ACC Tournament with a triumph, rather than a four-contest setback streak, everyone on the Syracuse basketball roster is going to have to hit the boards hard against Miami on Saturday afternoon.