No. 10 seed Syracuse (19-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) will play No. 7 seed Dayton (25-7, 14-4 Atlantic 10) on Friday at 12:15 p.m. in St. Louis. After a one-year hiatus from the postseason, the Orange can avenge its 55-53 2014 NCAA Tournament loss to the Flyers, a game in which SU made no 3-pointers.

Check out whether our beat writers predict Syracuse will get revenge.

Sam Blum (19-13)
Syracuse 55, Dayton 53
Taking a flier

This game will be a lot like Syracuse’s loss to Dayton two years ago. In fact, it might even be the exact same score. But this time, the Orange gets that elusive long-range shot while the Flyers do not. And Syracuse is able to get revenge on its loss and continue an improbable run in the NCAA Tournament. Both teams are trending downward, but SU flips the script as Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney have their careers last at least one more game.

Jesse Dougherty (21-11)
Dayton 61, Syracuse 56
Mirror image

The whole Syracuse revenge storyline is shaping up to be one big immaterial cliche heading into this matchup, but the Orange shooting nearly as poor as it did when these teams met in 2014 will produce a very material result. It doesn’t bode well for SU that this turns into a defensive matchup from the start, and Dayton forces Syracuse to make untimely mistakes that lead to easy transition buckets in crunch time. The Orange’s late-game struggles hit a wall on Friday afternoon, and an unwelcome offseason begins for the Orange before it has a chance at upsetting second-seeded Michigan State.

Matt Schneidman (23-9)
Syracuse 71, Dayton 65
Flying away

Dayton isn’t particularly big down low, save for 6-foot-11 reserve Steve McElvene, so the Orange should be able to win the rebounding battle if Tyler Roberson and company simply put their jerseys on. But if SU goes cold from deep, like the 0-for-10 mark from 3 it had in its 2014 NCAA Tournament loss to the Flyers, then things could get out of hand in favor of the No. 7 seed. But Syracuse was given a chance some didn’t expect it to have, and fifth-year seniors Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije will each go for 17 or more points to make sure that chance is capitalized on.

Published on March 16, 2016 at 1:14 am