Will the Orange finally get their first ACC Tournament win?
The regular season ended with the Syracuse Orange getting their most impressive win of the season over the No. 18-ranked Clemson Tigers, but the Orange will look to get their first ever ACC Tournament win this Tuesday at Barclays Center against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Syracuse comes in as the No. 11 seed in the tournament, while the Demon Deacons are 14th. The Orange need to make a little noise in the ACC Tournament if they want to find a way to be dancing come the NCAA Tournament.
Will round three benefit the Orange?
SU has seen the Demon Deacons twice already this season, and they have split the series thus far as both teams held their own in their home court. In round one, the Orange struggled to contain the perimeter, allowing Wake Forest to shoot 47 percent from deep, which contributed massively towards the Wake Forest win.
Round two was a different story, as the Orange countered the Demon Deacons’ three-point success with some free throw dominance. Even though the Orange struggled from the line, shooting 67 percent from the charity strike, they managed to attempt 39 free throws, and hit 26 of them — good for 14 more than Wake Forest. If Syracuse is able to attack the rim and limit the Demon Deacons’ perimeter success, they will put themselves in a great position to win this game.
The “big three”
Syracuse has relied on their “big three” to handle the bulk of the scoring this year, but the ACC Tournament is a whole different kind of monster. With the added lights and pressure, the Orange will need Tyus Battle, Frank Howard, and Oshae Brissett to dominate on offense.
These three perimeter players have the tendency to settle for threes at times, so they will need to make sure they are in attack mode all night long if they want to move on to face the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The health of the big men
The Orange have been hindered by the injury bug all season long, but the two Syracuse centers in Paschal Chukwu and Bourama Sidibe have battled through the pain to give the Orange some much needed minutes.
Syracuse doesn’t need a 20-point night from either of the interior players, but they will need them to make their presence known on both ends of the floor to avoid losing another ACC Tournament game.
Will Syracuse finally be able to contain Bryant Crawford?
Crawford is averaging 21.5 points per game against the Orange this year, which is almost five points above his season average (16.7 points per game). Crawford has exposed the Orange from deep in their two outings, as he is shooting 8-18 from deep, which has really hurt Syracuse stay balanced on defense. Syracuse will likely be able to extend a comfortable lead if they are able to slow down Crawford’s scoring ability.
Can Tyus Battle have a repeat of his last meeting with Wake Forest?
Battle had a dominant game the last time these two met, scoring 34 points on 10-18 shooting. Battle has been the leader the Orange have needed this year, leading them in scoring and making big shot after big shot. This is his time to give the Orange their first ACC Tournament win, and the stage is ready for him to capture the nation’s attention too.
