Will the Orange overcome the luck (and skill) of the Irish?
The Syracuse Orange are looking to avoid a four-game losing streak when they take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tomorrow at Noon. Notre Dame is coming off a rout of Michigan State and they beat the Orange 79-69 in the only meeting last season.
With all of that in mind, here are our predictions against Notre Dame:
Dom
Notre Dame 77, Syracuse 67
Notre Dame sits in the middle of the pack in the NCAA defensively, so on paper, it should be easier for the Orange to put up points in this game. But, I’m still concerned with the lack of shooting and reliable shot creators on this team. It’s a case of “I’ll believe it when I see it” with any potential bounce back from Joe Girard. Judah Mintz and Jesse Edwards will continue to put up their numbers, but outside of that duo, it’s tough to see who can reliably give Syracuse a scoring spark on a consistent, game-to-game basis. Notre Dame isn’t the most elite of offenses, but the program is one of the most efficient. It’ll be a tough task for Syracuse to escape with the win on the road in this contest.
Mike
Notre Dame 75, Syracuse 63
The Cardiac Cuse was nowhere to be found in a situation where it really needed to show up, and you can’t fix the offensive ineptitude we just saw in a few days. Every player that was expected to contribute significant scoring is in a funk. While the subpar Irish defense should make this less ugly than the ranked matchup with the Illini, Judah, despite his talent, cannot generate enough offensive production on his own to win. I still expect the Orange to be behind early and unable to overcome their own limitations. I just hope Justin Taylor continues to get significant minutes and we see a bit more of Maliq Brown – better to get an idea of what they offer right now.
Szuba
Notre Dame 82, Syracuse 72
This game should be higher scoring than the oddsmakers think. Absent one blunder against a formidable St. Bonaventure team, the Irish are off to a good start at 6-1 and don’t appear to have too much difficulty scoring the ball. Syracuse, meantime, is coming off a dreadful last couple of games and is having trouble scoring the ball. It’ll be a matchup of youth vs. experience in South Bend so give me the experienced team to take care of business at home.
Christian
Notre Dame 79, Syracuse 58
Yeah, a lopsided game. The big reason is that Notre Dame is perfectly set up to break the Syracuse zone. The Fighting Irish have three options they can put in the high post and four players who can make threes at a high percentage. Notre Dame has looked really good defense, especially over its last four games. Combine that with Syracuse’s offensive struggles and the Orange are in for a long day at South Bend.
Kevin
Notre Dame 70, Syracuse 67
I think the Orange will bounce back in this one but it’s hard to pick them after that second half the other night. This isn’t a great match-up for a young team struggling to pick up the zone, but Syracuse should dominate the glass. If the Orange can drive the ball and look to pick up fouls they could get into an unproven Irish bench. It wouldn’t shock me to see Syracuse win, but in the end I think they fall just short.
#Disloyalidiots uniting is often a good sign for Syracuse
Now it’s your turn: