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Syracuse’s trip to the Bahamas opened with a 67-55 loss to VCU in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament’s first round. They made fewer than seven 3-pointers for the third consecutive game against a suffocating Rams defense but also allowed 44 points in the second half to a team that’s previous season-high for points in a game was 58. Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim combined to score 37 points while the rest of SU’s starters and reserves managed just 18 — with foul trouble limiting the impact of Jesse Edwards in his 16 minutes of play.

In the next round, the Orange will face Arizona State, who lost to No. 6 Baylor 75-63 in its first-round matchup. The Sun Devils beat Portland and North Florida this season but lost back to back games against San Diego State and the Bears.

Here’s what The Daily Orange’s beat writers think will happen when SU (2-2) faces the Sun Devils (2-3) for the first time since the 2018 NCAA Tournament’s First Four.

Andrew Crane (2-2)
Now there’s trouble in paradise
Arizona State 67, Syracuse 61

Amid the ugly loss to VCU on Wednesday, so many signs emerged that reflected Syracuse’s problems of past seasons — that, to this point, maybe the solutions were only patched and not hardwired into its rotation. Joe Girard III struggled to drive downhill and facilitate the offense, and he finished with zero assists. He also tossed up the forced, long 3-pointer trying to find the momentum-changing answer that wasn’t there. The centers struggled with foul trouble, and the Orange’s over-reliance on 3-pointers hurt them when those shots didn’t fall.

The Orange’s next Battle 4 Atlantis game could be a tone-setter. Arizona State’s offense, especially its 3-point shooting, isn’t great, and it allows opponents to shoot 35.1% from beyond the arc, per KenPom. But their 2-point defense ranks 32nd nationally, and as the game against the Rams showed, SU’s options for points are limited when the 3-pointers don’t fall. Look for the Orange to suffer a third-straight loss, and their third game of the tournament against Loyola Chicago or Auburn won’t get any easier.

Roshan Fernandez (2-2)
Snap out of it
Syracuse 70, Arizona State 68

Syracuse did not look good against VCU. Combining a bad shooting day with shaky defense is a recipe for an SU loss, and the VCU game was a prime example of that. This Syracuse team is built to be a shooting team, and a strong shooting performance is all it needs to snap out of it. Arizona State isn’t highly ranked in either offensive or defensive efficiency, and it suffered an early season loss to UC Riverside as well as San Diego State and Baylor. SU’s defense still has issues which it’ll need to work out, but for now, a strong bounce-back shooting performance will be enough to lift the Orange over ASU. Girard, Buddy and Swider will be able to snap out of it — all are capable of bouncing back and improving on Wednesday’s perimeter shooting performance against ASU. For the time being, that’ll be enough for SU.

Gaurav Shetty (2-2)
Sun-kissed
Arizona State 70, Syracuse 61

Syracuse started the season with two easy wins that made it seem like the Orange were a force to be reckoned with. Now, Syracuse is down to .500 and staring down a losing record. In both losses, the Orange’s defense was simply not good enough. First they allowed 100 points to Colgate on 18 made 3-pointers. Then they let a VCU team — one that had never scored more than 60 points in a game this season — put up 67 on SU.

The newcomers to Syracuse, such as Benny Williams, are still learning the zone defense, so there will be growing pains. Up next is Arizona State, who is better than VCU on adjusted offensive efficiency on Kenpom, therefore Syracuse really needs to tighten its defense up to stand a chance of winning. The Orange are in a funk right now. Expect the Sun Devils to put a damper on Syracuse’s spirits after this game.

Published on November 25, 2021 at 12:44 pm