One team will climb back to .500
The Syracuse Orange (8-9, 2-4) will hope to bounce back on Saturday afternoon when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-9, 2-4) visit the JMA Wireless Dome. Tip-off is at 4:00 pm and here’s what we’re watching for (besides any stray green t-shirts left behind):
Kevin: Defend the perimeter
Louisville got every open 3 they wanted as Syracuse cannot defend screens. With Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry on the floor, the Irish will repeat the stellar shooting if they get the same open looks. I don’t anticipate that Donnie Freeman will be back which means that Notre Dame will likely pick on the combination of JJ Starling and Eddie Lampkin defensively. Starling goes under screens while Lampkin is trying to hedge and drop and it’s leaving too many clean looks. Syracuse needs to find a way to get some better perimeter defense in this one.
Mike: A J.J. Bounceback
When the Orange faced Notre Dame earlier this season, it was without their top scorer. Starling has had two great games, one decent, and one very poor since returning. SU can’t have him be a net negative on the floor like against Louisville if they want to generate more offense than they did in South Bend last month – especially with Burton back on the other side.
Dom: Which supporting cast has the scoring advantage?
The first edition of ‘Cuse versus the Fighting Irish saw both teams without their best players and offensive hubs (Starling and Burton). That game saw the Orange lose but the game closely contested for most of the way until the final minutes of the second half. This time around, both are going to be back and we expect each to perform at pretty strong levels. Assuming Starling and Burton each perform to a draw, that means this version of the matchup will simply come down to which supporting pieces step up the most. Can Lampkin get to 15 points? Can a few other players get eight to 10 points?
Max: More points than last time
While Notre Dame’s defense only allowed 64 points in the first meeting between these two teams, Micah Shrewsberry’s unit has fallen off in recent weeks. Opponents are posting a 57% effective shooting percentage against the Irish D in conference play, a defensive mark that’s second-worst among ACC teams (and no, Syracuse is not last). Starling is obviously a massive boost for the Orange this time around, and his facilitating should give the offense tons of clean looks around the basket.
Szuba: Lick an Orange, it tastes like an orange. … The Shrewsberrys taste like Shrewsberries
Syracuse allowed Braeden Shrewsberry to go for a career-high 25 points on 6-11 outside shooting in the last meeting. The the Orange fell asleep and lost him on multiple occasions for wide open looks in Micah Shrewsberry’s offense. Too, the Orange perimeter defense was disengaged last game with Reyne Smith and Chucky Hepburn torching Syracuse from outside as SU gave up 12 threes. Braeden Shrewsberry is averaging six made threes per game against Syracuse in his career. Can Lucas Taylor and Kyle Cuffe lock in on their assignment Saturday?
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What will you be watching for?