The Syracuse basketball team did what they were supposed to do. Now they’ve got to do that six more times before it really starts to matter.
The Syracuse basketball team ended their two-game slide with a victory over the North Florida Ospreys. And I’m going to be completely honest, I have no idea what an Osprey is nor was I aware of a basketball team residing in North Florida.
Regardless, SU is going to have to pad the stats so to speak over the next six games. Unlike last year when the Orange had the Battle for Atlantis tournament to rely on when tournament selection time came around, no such luxury exists this season.
None of these games if SU won would garner any recognition by the tournament selection committee. So while there is nothing to gain in terms of positioning, it’s important for the Orange to build up some wins and some momentum heading into conference play.
After the latest disappointment against the Wisconsin Badgers, head coach Jim Boeheim said
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that the team didn’t learn much in their first four games of the season. The point of his comments was that the shots that USC and Wisconsin made were the same shots that were available to SU’s first four opponents. The difference being those teams weren’t capable of making those open shots consistently.
With that being said it’s highly unlikely that any of the Orange’s next six opponents will be able to exploit those weaknesses. The issue that will exist is that false hope will be created when SU runs through this next stretch. The only real test may be the old rivalry games but UConn has been awful this year and does anyone really know who Georgetown is at this point?
But what this stretch is important for is the chemistry and finding the right lineup. Coach Boeheim messed with the starting lineup against North Florida and it paid off in a big way. Tyus Battle got his first career start and he delivered.
In his first career start, @tyusbattle1 has 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting, 4-of-5 from 3! #CuseMode pic.twitter.com/XpFJH7HTli
— Syracuse Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 3, 2016
This is the potential that SU saw in the preseason and he was hot from downtown. While he wasn’t the only player hot for the Cuse. Andrew White continued his scoring prowess pacing the team with a career-high 26 points.
The Orange Crush welcomed @AndrewWhite03 on the show to talk about the latest w/ the #Cuse Check it out! https://t.co/SeAEaeKITR
— InsideTheLoudHouse (@LoudHouseFS) December 2, 2016
At the end of the day the Orange survived a scare with a 77-71 win over North Florida. A lot of the credit can go to Dajuan Coleman who had a career high of his own and really came up with some clutch defensive plays.
SU rode the hot hand from downtown finishing 54% from the perimeter. While the concerns coming out of this game have to be the action in the paint. SU was outrebounded 41-33.
Up next for the Orange is a trip to Madison Square Garden for a matchup with the UConn Huskies on Monday.
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