Syracuse basketball has to stun No. 1 seed Duke to avoid losing season

Syracuse basketball will square off against the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Thursday afternoon in the league’s post-season tourney, and the Orange will do so without its leading scorer in a game that I simply can’t foresee the ‘Cuse winning.

I’m not being a pessimist here, as those who know me well know that I am usually extremely optimistic and positive about my beloved Orange.

However, ‘Cuse senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim isn’t available for the team’s match-up with Duke in the 2022 ACC Tournament’s quarterfinal round, because Boeheim was suspended for one game by the conference for punching a Florida State player during the first half of the Orange’s trouncing of No. 8 seed FSU on Wednesday afternoon.

So now the No. 9 seed ‘Cuse will go toe to go with the No. 1 seed Blue Devils at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., minus Buddy Buckets along with two injured Syracuse basketball players, junior center Jesse Edwards and freshman forward Benny Williams.

Syracuse basketball will need to shoot lights-out to knock off Duke.

This is pretty simple. For the Orange (16-16, 9-11) to have any shot at upsetting the Blue Devils (26-5, 16-4), a group presently ranked No. 7 in the country, the ‘Cuse is going to have to make a ton of 3-pointers.

And with Boeheim not available, the onus to strike it rich from the perimeter will be on senior forward Cole Swider, junior point guard Joe Girard III and graduate student forward Jimmy Boeheim.

Junior guard Symir Torrence, who was excellent in the Orange’s conquering of Florida State, will have to be aggressive yet again in driving to the basket, while facilitating for others and pushing the ball out in transition.

Speaking of transition, for Syracuse basketball to have any hope of outscoring Duke, the ‘Cuse zone will need to create deflections and steals that result in easy buckets on the fast break.

And then there’s rebounding. The Blue Devils blew out the Orange in both of their regular-season meetings, and Duke owned the glass in each encounter to the tune of at least a 10-rebound advantage in each game.

This means that everyone is going to have to pitch in on the boards, with a lot of pressure headed in the direction of sophomore center Frank Anselem, graduate student center Bourama Sidibe, Jimmy Boeheim and Swider.

Redshirt sophomore big man John Bol Ajak appeared to suffer an injury versus the Seminoles, so we’ll have to see if he can play against Duke.

Last but not least, the ‘Cuse has a thin bench and can ill-afford for any of its key players to get into foul trouble. I was proud of the Orange’s effort in its victory over Florida State, but Syracuse basketball has a really small chance of prevailing versus the Blue Devils.

It would stink if the ‘Cuse career of Buddy Boeheim ended on Thursday afternoon with him sitting out. He made a mistake in punching the FSU player, without question.

And as I noted not too long ago, it would prove just a tad ironic if Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, a dear friend of Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim, handed Coach B a loss that clinched the first losing season for Boeheim in his 46 years at the helm on the Hill.