Syracuse men’s basketball: what to watch for vs Tennessee

Battle of the Orange… again

The Syracuse Orange (4-2) play their first true road game of the season when they head to Knoxville to take on the #3 Tennessee Volunteers (7-0). Tip-off is 7:30 on ESPN2 and here’s what we’re watching for:

Kevin: Start strong

Tennessee is 2nd in KenPom’s defensive efficiency early this season and the Orange can’t afford to get down big early in this one. It will be interesting to see how the team responds on the road but they have to come out and be aggressive from the jump. No side to side possessions, no quick mid-range shots. Syracuse needs to try and push the pace and attack the rim to have a chance at the win.

Max: Find a rhythm on defense

The one blemish with the Vols so far this season is their turnover rate of 19.2%, which ranks in the bottom third of the country. I feel like a broken record, but Syracuse must step up its defensive pressure to have a legitimate chance. The Orange D averaged just seven takeaways against Texas and Texas Tech in Brooklyn, so look for a bounce-back effort facing a Tennessee team that gives it up over 12 times per contest.

Dom: Move the ball on offense

As Max noted, Syracuse will get a certain portion of its scoring by hopefully generating turnovers and turning those into fast break points. At the end of the day, any chance at a win will come down to whether the Orange can score enough in the half-court. Tennessee boasts the second-best defensive rating in the country per KenPom heading into Tuesday’s game, and Syracuse has had troubles with too much isolation and not enough ball movement during certain stretches this year.

Mike: Find your outside shot

This is both a figurative and literal guide to the game. The Orange shouldn’t have any chance in this game, but I thought the same about Texas not that long ago. I still don’t trust SU’s defense in the slightest so for them to keep pace with the Vols’ offense, they need to drastically improve their 27% three-point shooting rate. Chris Bell was ice cold against Cornell and only played 18 minutes – he needs to bounce back and drain some early shots to help open up driving lanes. If he can’t get it done, don’t be afraid to go back to Elijah Moore for a spark off the bench.

Sam: Pindown Screens

If you’ve watched Tennessee basketball at any point over the last handful of years, you know how much they love to use pindown screens to get into their offense. A few years ago, they would run these actions for players like Josiah Jordan-James, a moderately good scorer, and the Vols had a disappointing offense that held them back with an elite defense. Then, when Dalton Knecht came in, it completely changed their offense because he turned those pindowns into extremely efficient offense. Any advantage he got was an easy curl for a drive or a three-pointer. Now, Chaz Lanier has fallen much closer to the Knecht part of the spectrum than the JJJ one. These pins also turn into other screening actions, diversifying the way that the Vols score.

Syracuse is a 21-point KenPom underdog (yikes) and in order to stay close, you have to deny these Lanier pins, but not get beat on the slips by Okpara and company. Zakai Zeigler is one of the five best point guards in college basketball, but Syracuse’s best chance is to force him and defensive ace Jahmai Mashack to beat them as a scorer. It’s probably impossible to completely take the pins away, as Tennessee runs so much off of them, but the deeper the shot clock runs without either paint touches or a good look for Lanier is a positive.

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Now it’s your turn, what are you watching for tomorrow night