One team will finally get an ACC win tomorrow night
The Syracuse Orange (6-7, 0-2) travel south to face the Florida State Seminoles (9-4, 0-2) on Saturday night. The game tips off at 6:00 ET on the ACC Network/WatchESPN and here’s what we’re predicting:
Sam: Florida State 80, Syracuse 66
Syracuse has tried a lot of different things and hasn’t really gotten a successful bite at the apple yet. I’m going to pick against the Orange, especially on the road, until I’m given reason to do otherwise. Rotations are all out of whack, turnovers are skyrocketing (the last three games have been – by far – the three highest SU turnover rates of the season), and outside shooting is still pretty grotesque.
Mike: Florida State 83, Syracuse 64
As I said in our Slack channel, this is the “Remember Jamir Watkins?” game. He set a then-career-high with 27 points in FSU’s victory at the Dome last season, and the Trenton native is on an absolute tear lately, with 24, 29, 23, and 25 in his last four games. The Orange couldn’t stop Hunter Sallis for the whole afternoon Tuesday and I really don’t think they have the personnel to slow Watkins down here either.
Kevin: Florida State 77, Syracuse 70
As Mike mentioned, Watkins has been lighting it up, which means Syracuse should start Lucas Taylor on him from the start. So, I’d put Taylor in to replace Elijah Moore because I think you have to keep hoping Chris Bell makes some shots, but I suspect we won’t see that move. This is the overall problem right now- the best defensive group is very limited offensively, so winning on the road doesn’t seem likely.
Dom: Florida State 79, Syracuse 69
Keeping the “predicting a loss” train going, Florida State doesn’t boast the most high-powered offense but puts a lot of players on the floor (10 players playing 10 minutes or more). That should keep the defensive energy up for the Seminoles pretty much all game, and unless Syracuse really just gets an out of body shooting day from the frontcourt, Florida State will build up a lead and keep the Orange at arm’s distance until the final buzzer.
Szuba: Florida State 85, Syracuse 70
Syracuse has struggled taking care of the basketball of late and against a long, athletic Florida State team that wants to force pressure, that spells trouble for a team with only one ball-handler. That, and stopping Watkins is a tall order as Mike already mentioned. Neither of these teams shoot well from distance but Florida State defends the three. Hard to see where Syracuse’s points come from in this game going up against a big frontcourt. Noles win comfortably.
Max: Florida State 82, Syracuse 68
We still have way more questions than answers with this Syracuse team, and I don’t think we learn much with another tough matchup on the road. The Seminoles have a much better defense and are top 10 in block percentage (16.8%), which will give the Orange fits in the paint. Until we see SU figure out its three-point shooting, I can’t back Autry’s team in any ACC matchup.
**********************************************************************************************
Now it’s your turn