Syracuse opens its season with Lehigh on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. Here’s how the beat writers think the Orange will fare to begin the new year.

Sam Blum (0-0)
Syracuse 72, Lehigh 65
Top of the Mountain

Syracuse basketball is back, baby. And this season, there aren’t any postseason bans to nullify the good play that will come its way. The Orange starts the season off right, sneaking by a solid Lehigh team that is picked to win the Patriot League. The Orange establishes its 3-point-heavy offense from the start and rides it to Taco Time.

Jesse Dougherty (0-0)
Syracuse 69, Lehigh 58
Ball hawking

In the first look at the 2015-16 Orange, Syracuse shoots well enough to let its defense close out the game. Sharpshooter Austin Price and stretch forward Tim Kempton are typical zone busters, but they aren’t quite good enough to close the talent gap between the two teams. SU’s length atop the zone turns into easy points in crunch time, and that yields a relatively easy win.

Matt Schneidman (0-0)
Syracuse 81, Lehigh 60
Grand opening

We’re going to see a fast-paced Syracuse team put up more points this year and Friday will be the first look at that. Even if Dajuan Coleman is still shaking off rust, Trevor Cooney, Michael Gbinije and Malachi Richardson do enough from behind the arc to send the Mountain Hawks back to Pennsylvania with a loss.

Published on November 13, 2015 at 3:46 pm