Hoops Preview: Notre Dame Vs. Syracuse
NOTRE DAME (14-5, 5-2 ACC) VS. SYRACUSE (13-8, 3-5 ACC)
Where: Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
Rankings: The Irish are ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press poll; the Orange is unranked.
Time/TV: 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Last Meeting: This is the 47th matchup between the two programs. Syracuse leads the all-time series 27-19, and the Orange won the last meeting 65-60 in South Bend on Feb. 24, 2015.
Notre Dame Notes
The Irish are coming off a 76-49 romp over Boston College at home Jan. 23. Notre Dame’s defense has struggled often this year, but showed signs of life while holding the Eagles to just 0.75 points per possession — the lowest the Irish have allowed to a team all season.
So even against a subpar opponent, the victory was a good one in the eyes of Notre Dame — minus of course, the injury to star junior point guard Demetrius Jackson.
Notre Dame’s leading scorer went down with a moderate pulled hamstring before the game’s first media timeout, and is not expected to play Thursday night against the Orange. Head coach Mike Brey said it would take a “miracle” for Jackson to play.
Replacing Jackson’s 16.6 points per game in the lineup will likely be freshman guard Rex Pflueger. The Irish rookie played a career-high 32 minutes against Boston College after Jackson went down, scoring 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting, in addition to contributing three rebounds and two assists. Moreso than his offense, though, it was Pflueger’s quality defense that stood out most from the performance, and his play was a huge factor in Notre Dame’s defense stepping up.
“I think what we would probably do and what we’ll look at over the next couple of days is start the game how we started the second half against Boston College,” Brey said. “We gotta get Matt Farrell reps this week; another guard has to be ready, too.”
Steve Vasturia — Averaging 35.3 minutes per game, which is the most on the team.
Rex Pflueger — Likely to make his first career start.
V.J. Beachem — Made 44 of 104 three-point attempts (42.3 percent) so far this season.
Bonzie Colson — Could rejoin the starting lineup after coming off the bench his last four games.
Zach Auguste — Averaging a double-double with 13.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
Syracuse Overview
The Orange are coming off a 73-65 defeat at Virginia Jan. 24, and after three consecutive road conference games will welcome the Irish to start a four-game homestand.
They’re very balanced on both sides of the ball, ranking 67th nationally in offensive efficiency and 36th on defense.
Syracuse’s feared 2-3 zone defense ranks in the the top 60 nationally in three of four major categories — defensive field goal percentage, turnovers and avoiding fouling. They do give up a ton of offensive rebounds in the process, ranking 328th in defensive rebounding percentage. Notre Dame would love for 6-8 Beachem, 6-5 Colson (with his long wingspan) and the 6-10 Auguste to get to the backboard in this one.
Offensively they’re fairly balanced. Junior forward Tyler Roberson is a monster on the offensive glass, collecting an offensive rebound on 15.7 percent of available opportunities (the 18th highest individual rate nationally). One of Notre Dame’s largest focal points defensively is protecting the glass, so a big key for them in this one could be getting a body on Roberson.
Outlook
This one was basically a coin flip before the Demetrius Jackson injury. Now that he’s not expected to play, it’s tough to make a call in favor of the Irish. I’m bullish on the future potential of Rex Pflueger, but there’s no doubt not having Jackson in this one hurts.
Prediction: Syracuse 71, Notre Dame 65