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After dropping its first game of the season against Colgate, Syracuse stormed out and wiped the floor with a winless Northeastern. Now, after three games across two weeks, the Orange enter the Empire Classic in Brooklyn, New York, with Richmond as their first opponent. The Spiders are the reigning Atlantic 10 Champions and upset Iowa 67-63 win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last year before falling to Providence in the following round. 

Richmond has three double-digit scorers, led by Tyler Burton, and averages 70 points per game. It started off the season with two wins before dropping an overtime thriller to Charleston and most recently fell by three points to Wichita State.

Here’s what our beat writers predict will happen in Syracuse’s first game of the Empire Classic. 

Anish Vasudevan (2-1) 
Spiders don’t bite
Syracuse 68, Richmond 60

Richmond had a surprising run last season, winning the A-10 Championship before upsetting No. 5 seed Iowa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But Jacob Gilyard, who willed the Spiders to that upset win with four 3-pointers and a total of 24 points, was only a one-year pickup. They completely fell apart offensively in their last game (similar to Syracuse against Colgate), shooting 41.7% from the field and less than 23.5% from 3.

Just how it beat Northeastern, Syracuse simply needs to take away 3-pointers and force Richmond to beat it inside. That should be easy, as Richmond has averaged 29.5 points in the paint this season. SU scored 44 against the Huskies. Jesse Edwards will be tasked with stopping leading scorer Tyler Burton down low, but the height advantage and help from top of the zone should be enough to mitigate him. This is another opportunity for Syracuse to refine the zone, for Judah Mintz to continue to make creative shots and for Joe Girard III to continue to find his stride from deep. 

Connor Smith (2-1)
Defensive showdown 
Syracuse 65, Richmond 58

Syracuse played well against Northeastern Saturday, especially defensively, holding the Huskies to just 48 points after Colgate made 19 3-pointers against the Orange on Tuesday night. Edwards, Girard and Mintz have carved themselves out as the Orange’s three go-to scorers, and coming off a convincing win, SU should have a little bit more confidence heading to Brooklyn after losing by double-digits to Colgate.

I like Syracuse in this game, too, not just because the Spiders are coming off two straight losses, but because two of their biggest weaknesses — 3-point shooting (248th nationally) and offensive rebounding (320th nationally) — are the two things teams traditionally use to beat SU. Expect the Orange to run a little bit more 2-3 zone than they have in their first few games, and get a few timely buckets from their big three to escape game one of the Empire Classic with a victory. 

Anthony Alandt (1-2) 
Stick to what works
Syracuse 71, Richmond 62

The get-right game against Northeastern worked, putting the Orange in a calmer position entering the Empire Classic Tournament. Maybe Colgate — and 19 made 3-pointers — was a hiccup in this young team’s road to success. Richmond certainly proves to be a taller task than the Huskies, but it won’t be another bump in the road. If Syracuse ensures its offense runs through Mintz and Girard on the outside with a healthy dose of Edwards down low, there’s no reason SU should fall in the opening game against the Spiders.

Shooting just 30.9% on 3-pointers and only 43.2% from the field, the Spiders don’t pose as impending of a threat to the Orange’s struggling defense as Colgate did. It also seems as though the 2-3 zone is what SU is going to roll with, at least for now, which lends itself to a worse opponent shooting percentage from inside the arc. Hold the line underneath the basket, and Syracuse should easily be able to take care of Richmond.

Published on November 21, 2022 at 11:17 am