After a win over Oakland on Wednesday, Syracuse (6-5, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) continues its nonconference slate with North Florida (7-6) on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Ospreys have one of the country’s worst defenses both inside and outside the arc, and both teams employ a 3-point oriented offense.

Below, The Daily Orange’s beat writers predict the outcome of the Orange’s matchup. 

Nick Alvarez (9-2)
Ten, Ten, Ten
Syracuse 85, North Florida 70 

After a truly “sickening” display by the Orange faithful last time out, expect the crowd of a lifetime to show up for *checks notes* North Florida! The Ospreys should pose a tougher challenge than Oakland did in the Dome but only marginally. North Florida will try to shoot its way to a win, like it has for most of the year. Led by Carter Hendricksen (40% from 3), the Ospreys have four shooters with at least 59 attempts from deep. As a team, they average 12.5 a game. But, I’m not banking on North Florida to catch fire from 3 like Georgetown did. And at the end of the day, like most nonconference teams, North Florida won’t have a defender to stop Elijah Hughes.  

Michael McCleary (7-4)
An Osprey is a type of bird
Syracuse 75, North Florida 58

Props to Nick for stealing my intro. I’m going to write it anyway. Jim Boeheim clarified that his comments weren’t a reflection of the team’s fanbase, but rather just the “sickening” energy in the Dome for that particular game against Oakland. But, I think this needs to be said: The same reason Boeheim complained the Orange can’t get any help is exactly what the Orange need at this point of the season. Syracuse managed to look pretty sloppy the other day, but Oakland was bad enough to allow the Orange to win pretty handily. Oakland, North Florida and Niagara won’t generate any buzz in the Dome, but Syracuse can’t seem to beat any team better than them. Like a few days ago, expect an Orange win only because a loss would be concerning.

Josh Schafer (8-3)
Do it for the fans
Syracuse 83, North Florida 69

I lack the whit of my beat partners so I’ll keep this prediction straight. Syracuse is a much better team than North Florida, expect that to be what matters most no matter how many fans are in the stands. The Ospreys are ranked 186th in the country per Ken Pomeroy and have a sub-par defense including 104.7 defensive efficiency. North Florida’s “best” win came against Georgia Southern and it has lost to Tennessee State and Austin Peay. This just isn’t the kind of game Syracuse loses and Saturday’s result should reflect that.

Published on December 21, 2019 at 11:47 am