A quick turnaround in Brooklyn
The Syracuse Orange (3-1) have little time to dwell on last night’s loss against the Texas Longhorns. The Orange are back in action tonight at 7 on ESPNU to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders (4-1) in the conclusion of the Legends Classic. Texas Tech fell to St. Joseph’s 78-77 last night.
Here’s what we’re predicting tonight:
Kevin: Texas Tech 84, Syracuse 76
The Orange showed that they won’t roll over, but after letting a game slip through their hands last night, it’s going to be tough to bounce back against this Red Raiders squad. JT Toppin comes into the game averaging 20.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game and I don’t know that this Syracuse squad has an answer for him. If Syracuse is going to leave Brooklyn with a split, they need to knock down their free throws and 3s and we haven’t seen proof of that this season.
Sam: Texas Tech 78, Syracuse 63
Texas Tech lost that game because Saint Joseph’s made some insanely difficult shots. The Red Raiders were the better team on the glass, on the inside, forced more turnovers, and barely missed from the line. They got Rasheer Fleming to foul out, but it didn’t matter. He hit a few early threes, Xzayvier Brown was a menace driving to the basket (as expected), and Erik Reynolds couldn’t miss from three. I’d be surprised if there’s another game for a while where Texas Tech’s opponent scores 24 more points on threes than they do.
They cannot afford to miss this opportunity and lose back-to-back games with how high their expectations are, and they’re also simply a better team than Texas was. Syracuse played pretty well in the second half, but made a plethora of dumb mistakes that held them back.
Dom: Texas Tech 81, Syracuse 69
After falling just short versus Texas last night, Syracuse is now up yet again to face off yet again versus an opponent from the Lone Star State… and this one is pretty tough on paper. Texas Tech ranks top-30 on both ends of the floor per KenPom and brings an arguably better level of physicality, defensive intensity and versatility the Orange will have to deal with right from tip-off. Syracuse’s own defensive energy ramped up in the second half of the Texas game which helped to spark the comeback down the end, but unless Syracuse can generate more efficient offense and not fall into an early deficit right out of the gate, the Red Raiders will likely emerge as the victors.
Szuba: Texas Tech 79, Syracuse 69
While the ability to comeback and hang with a team like Texas was encouraging out of the Orange camp, a matchup against Texas Tech for the third-place game seems like an unfair consolation prize. The Raiders are a physically imposing team and will make scoring difficult for the Orange. Syracuse has rebounded well this year but keeping Toppin off the offensive glass will be a challenge. The three point line could be the difference here as Texas Tech had shot the ball well from deep up until last night. The Raiders don’t defend the three well, though. Syracuse needs to shoot the ball well, but I don’t see that happening. Texas Tech by ten.
Max: Texas Tech 73, Syracuse 70
Like I said against Texas, we would see some flashes of greatness from the Orange, but they wouldn’t execute for a full 40 minutes. The same will be the case today. The Red Raiders are fourth in effective field goal percentage per KenPom, have a much more active defense and are the more experienced team. The only blemish from TT is its three-point defense, allowing over 40% of its opponent’s tries (346th DI). If there’s any chance for a Chris Bell breakout shooting game, it’s this one. Even with that, I don’t see SU doing enough in other areas to steal a win tonight.
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Now it’s your turn,