No. 16 Syracuse (1-0) cruised to victory 66-34 over Eastern Washington (0-1) on Tuesday, opening the season. The Orange limited EWU to the lowest point total by an opponent in Carrier Dome history. Next up is a meeting with Morehead State (1-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Eagles won by 20 points over Kentucky Christian on Tuesday to open the season. Kentucky Christian plays in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, a small colleges’ equivalent to the NCAA. The Eagles lost 80-70 at Connecticut on Thursday night before traveling to Syracuse.

Here’s what our beat writers predict will happen on Saturday.

Charlie DiSturco (1-0)
Easy as pie
Syracuse 78, Morehead State 50

This game should be very similar to Tuesday night’s blowout over Eastern Washington. Syracuse is a much better team than Morehead State and the Orange won by 32 against EWU, while still struggling offensively. With Jalen Carey healing by the day and Tyus Battle likely bouncing back from an off 3-for-10 shooting performance, expect another blowout win for SU. Morehead State is ranked 17 spots lower than EWU on Kenpom.com and will come off one day of rest after a road game at Connecticut. Expect Syracuse’s defense to shut down Morehead State much like Eastern Washington and remain perfect Saturday.

Matthew Gutierrez (1-0)
The road to November glory
Syracuse 75, Morehead State 53

Morehead State is (admirably) hitting the Northeast with road games at Connecticut and Syracuse over the next few days. The Orange plays UConn in a week at Madison Square Garden, so the Morehead State-Huskies matchup should indicate how the SU-UConn game could go down in Manhattan. The score may be closer than we think, next week. For now, on Saturday night, the No. 16 Syracuse Orange cruises by Morehead State and upgrades their record to 2-0 for the 15th-straight season.

Billy Heyen (1-0)
Chasing triple digits
Syracuse 91, Morehead State 47

Syracuse will have no trouble with Morehead State, and there’s reason to think the score margin will be even wider than Tuesday’s 32-point SU win. Buddy Boeheim shot 1-for-11, and Tyus Battle 3-for-10, even as the Orange controlled the game the whole way. Elijah Hughes went 2-for-8, as well. There’s no way a shooter like Buddy and two scorers like Battle and Hughes combined to go 6-for-29 against an undersized, outclassed team like Morehead State. Victory won’t be a question. The century mark could be.

Published on November 9, 2018 at 11:56 pm