Syracuse (18-8, 8-5 Atlantic Coast) has now won eight of its last nine games and faces a tough test in No. 18 Louisville (19-6, 8-4), who self-imposed an NCAA Tournament ban. The Orange finishes the season with two home games and two away games after it plays the Cardinals. With ACC play winding down, beat writers Sam Blum, Jesse Dougherty and Matt Schneidman discuss three questions surrounding Syracuse basketball.

1. Which games left on Syracuse’s schedule are must-wins and why?

Sam Blum: It’s important that Syracuse wins three of its last five games to put itself in great position to not only be a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but also have favorable seeding and possibly the (always feared) double-bye in the ACC tournament. Syracuse must win at home against North Carolina State. The Orange is stockpiling good wins, but a bad loss like that does a lot of damage. Then they really must win either at home against Pittsburgh or on the road at Florida State. Three out of five would be nice, but two out of five is a must.

Jesse Dougherty: The only must-win games left for Syracuse are against Pittsburgh and N.C. State, which are the two home games left on the schedule. After that, I don’t think the Orange “has to” beat any of Louisville, North Carolina and Florida State on the road, although a win over the Seminoles would help avoid any tournament-bid question marks.

Matt Schneidman: In order to solidify a bid to the NCAA Tournament, I think Syracuse has to win three of its last five games. That would mean matchups against Pittsburgh, N.C. State and Florida State are must-wins since games against Louisville and North Carolina are acceptable losses, at least moreso than the others. None of the final five games on the Orange’s regular season schedule would be considered “bad losses” because even N.C. State (who sits 3-10 in conference) has arguably the most talented player in the league in Anthony “Cat” Barber. But the home stretch of the season is when a team like Syracuse, one that’s straddling the bubble even if it’s on the good side as of now, can’t afford any sort of loss to a team it should beat.

2. The last time Syracuse severely lost the rebounding battle was against Pittsburgh (-18). Is SU’s improvement on the boards the new normal for the Orange?

S.B.: It’s as though the answer to that question is in the question itself. It certainly is one of the most underrated aspects of Syracuse’s success, and better rebounding has coincided with more wins. But better rebounding has also coincided with better defense. And better defense typically means more missed shots, which means more chances to get defensive rebounds. But this team, as Jim Boeheim said on Monday, is gradually getting better in almost every aspect. It’s been a fun evolution to watch.

J.D.: It’s really hard to judge rebounding success, especially because so much of it is tied to how many shots Syracuse’s opponents are missing (which has been more and more as the zone has tightened up in the last month or so). But it does seem that the Orange is an improved team on the glass, and you’d have to think that Dajuan Coleman is going to continue to be a big factor on the defensive glass since his absences have coincided with a lot of the Orange’s “rough” rebounds stretches. Coleman doesn’t necessarily have to be grabbing the rebounds himself, but having his strength and size in the middle of the zone goes a long way in helping his teammates get the job done on the defensive glass.

M.S.: Syracuse has outrebounded its opponents in eight of the last 10 games, so yes, it’s definitely become the new normal. The days of being outrebounded by double digits are gone and Wisconsin’s +26 margin on the glass in SU’s first loss of the season seems like eons ago. The key to this turnaround has been Tyler Lydon, who has asserted himself as a physical presence on the interior. Sure, he’s still getting pushed around on occasion (see: Boston College’s Dennis Clifford taking him off the dribble on back-to-back possessions) but starting with a nine-rebound performance against Duke and Marshall Plumlee, the SU freshman has nicely complemented his expanding offensive game with more of a reinforcement to Tyler Roberson down low.

3. Matt Milon is just the latest player to hurt SU without much of a history of high scoring. Why does that frequently happen and will it hurt Syracuse down the stretch?

S.B.: Everyone is going to have a career night some night. I know that the rhetoric is that Syracuse always gives up big games to unknowns, but I’d be willing to bet it doesn’t happen to SU more than it does anyone else. The Orange is always a team that is subject to get burned by outside shooters. It literally always combats that problem by extending the zone. It’s like Boeheim lulls teams into a sense of confidence, and then takes that away. Milon made one 3-pointer in the second half. So clearly there’s a way to stop the bleeding when necessary.

J.D.: Let’s get something straight: Weird players lighting up the scoreboard is not a “Syracuse thing.” It’s a “college basketball thing.” Even further than that, it’s a “sports thing.” Teams logically prepare for the other team’s best players and, in turn, unlikely scorers, or heroes if you will, show up in box scores across college basketball every night. With that said, Milon scored 25 points for Boston College with the Orange held the Eagles’ best scorer, Eli Carter, to seven points while making just 2-of-9 shots. Yes, it’s never good to let any player to score 25 points, but SU shut down the player that BC runs its offense through and a 14-point win was the result.

M.S.: From T.J. Sorrentine in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament to Milon on Sunday, it seems that some no-name sharpshooter always gets the best of the Syracuse zone. Don’t buy into the myth. It’s how the zone works. Some shooters will get hot and buy real estate from beyond the stretches of the zone and hit a couple in a row. It happened with Pittsburgh’s Lamar Patterson two years ago and it happens with bigger-name players than ones like Milon. The less popular names just stand out more and it’s fun for everyone to pick them out.

Published on February 15, 2016 at 8:31 pm