After picking up its first win of the season on Wednesday against Colgate, Syracuse (1-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) continues its nonconference slate against Seattle (2-2). The Redhawks enter Saturday’s game in the Carrier Dome with two non-Division I wins and two losses to Washington State and Eastern Washington. This is the first game in the NIT Season Tip-Off series, and as of Friday night, Syracuse is favored by 15.5 points and the over/under is set at 129, per Pinnacle.

Here are our beat writers’ predictions for Saturday’s 7 p.m. game in the Carrier Dome:

Nick Alvarez (2-0)
‘Seattle’
Syracuse 74, Seattle 48 

After two-straight early deficits, Syracuse should steamroll Seattle from tip on Saturday night. Elijah Hughes is slowly finding his groove, swishing a 3 while falling backward against Colgate, and can have his early-season showcase. In its last game, Seattle allowed 25 to Eastern Washington’s Jacob Davison. Elsewhere, Bourama Sidibe is coming off the best half of his career and will lead a center-rotation officially down to two players In my opinion, the most interesting thing to watch will be Joe Girard III’s development now that he’s officially SU’s starting guard.

Michael McCleary (2-0)
They have the Space Needle, I guess
Syracuse 83, Seattle 51

This game won’t be close. Nothing against the city of Seattle, of course. It is, after all, ranked the No. 3 big city to live in. Really cool place. But this isn’t about that, and Syracuse — in a home game — should have an easy time with this one. The Redhawks were blown out by Washington State. Syracuse perhaps presents an even bigger challenge than them, and SU’s proficiency from beyond the arc can make this game well out of reach. And quickly, too.

Josh Schafer (2-0)
Sounding off
Syracuse 81 Seattle 53

This the fourth-easiest game left on Syracuse’s schedule per Kenpom and it’s easy to see why. With a 30-point loss to Washington State and some of the worst shooting stats in the country (Seattle is currently ranked 351st out of 353 teams in 3-point field goal percentage), there’s little room to expect and upset. The Redhawks just aren’t close to competing with an ACC team and this game will be better to watch Syracuse’s offense continue to search for rhythm, SU head coach Jim Boeheim said after the win over Colgate the team still needs to look better on offense and that will start on Saturday against a sub-par defense.

Published on November 15, 2019 at 8:45 pm