On Tuesday, Villanova will take a break from Big Five play to reignite a rivalry from the old Big East when it plays Syracuse at Madison Square Garden.
“A great opportunity to play at the Garden against an outstanding Syracuse team,” Jay Wright said. “Always a tough game when you play Syracuse. But Syracuse in the Garden is kinda basketball heaven, it’s pretty cool.”
The Orange enter the game with a 5-3 record and are coming off solid wins over Indiana and Florida State.
The advanced metrics paint a pretty clear picture of Syracuse: a strong offensive team that has struggled on the defensive end. KenPom ranks Syracuse 57th overall (18th offensively, 154th defensively) while Haslametrics has the Orange 62nd overall (10th offensively, 241st defensively).
Defensively, Syracuse is giving up 79.1 points per game. The Orange haven’t forced a ton of turnovers this season and as a result opponents have been getting a lot of shots up. Compounding matters, Syracuse hasn’t limited opponent’s field goal percentages from any level of the court. The team has also been susceptible to giving up offensive rebounds at times and has allowed opponents to convert extra opportunities at a fairly high rate.
While the defensive numbers aren’t great, they do come with a caveat. Syracuse plays its patented 2-3 zone defense which can flummox opponents at times. “You don’t play against anybody that plays the zone as well as they do,” Wright said. To further complicate things, the Orange have mixed in a 1-3-1 zone this season, adding a new piece of the puzzle for opponents to figure out. “They’re even, this year, adding a 1-3-1 that’s pretty effective,” Wright added. “They did a great job against Florida State with their 1-3-1 zone.”
Good shooting and good ball movement are key to beating a zone defense and happen to be two things Villanova has been very good at. However, teams that excel at the zone can makes things very difficult for opposing offenses, and that issue can be compounded by an offense not seeing zone defenses very often. Add in the wrinkle of the 1-3-1, and it will be interesting to see how Villanova responds to the Syracuse defense.
Offensively, it has been a different story for Syracuse.
The Orange average 80.9 points per game and have five players averaging double figures. They shoot a solid 36.8% from 3 and can make you pay for fouling them, hitting 78.7% from the line. They’ve also taken care of the ball well.
“They’re really explosive,” Wright said. “The firepower they have between the Boeheims, Joey Girard and Cole Swider is scary. We’re gonna have to guard them.”
Buddy Boeheim leads the way with 19.1 points per game. He adds four assists, 3.6 rebounds and two steals per game. His brother, Jimmy, adds 14.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals and has hit 44% of his 3-point attempts.
Girard chips in 15.1 points per game to go with 4.1 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. He has been scorching the nets from 3, hitting 52.9% of his long-range attempts. However, he has also committed 3.3 turnovers per game.
Swider, the former Wildcat, has thrived in his move to Syracuse. He averages 13.1 points, a team-high 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. “Everyone here kinda knew just by his growth wherever he was gonna be this year he was gonna be really good,” Wright said. “And I do think Syracuse is a good fit. Still wish he was here, but it is a good fit and he’s playing extremely well. He’s just become a complete player. They use him up at the top in isos, obviously he can always catch and shoot, come off screens. But he’s really become a complete player.”
“A great shooter, had a great IQ for the game and he always played hard, he competed hard on every possession, so we know what to expect out of him, what he’ll bring to the table,” Collin Gillespie added.
Jesse Edwards rounds out the double figure scorers for the Orange with 12.4 points per game. He adds 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks.
Syracuse has run a rotation almost as tight as Villanova’s, with only eight players averaging more than 10 minutes per game. In addition to the five double-figure scorers, the Orange have used Frank Anselem (2.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 11.3 minutes), Symir Torrence (two points, 2.8 assists, 1.6 rebounds, 12.4 minutes) and Benny Williams (1.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, 15.5 minutes).
Edwards is 6-11 and Anselem is 6-10, so Syracuse will present some size for Villanova to contend with. In addition, Buddy Boeheim is 6-6 and Jimmy Boeheim is 6-8 while Swider is 6-9 and Williams is 6-8, so Syracuse’s length is certainly a challenge.
“They’re long, they have a bunch of shooters, so they try to get stops and rebounds and get out really fast,” Gillespie said. “They’re length bothers you and they do a good job of containing and contesting.”
How Villanova handles that length will be something to watch on Tuesday. How that translates to the battle on the boards will be key as well. Despite that size and length, Syracuse has been susceptible on the defensive glass. Villanova has been better rebounding the ball recently and has had some success on the offensive glass.
The 3-point line will likely be another key. Both teams like to shoot from long-range and both have connected at a good rate. Whoever gets the better of things from distance will have a big advantage.
The free throw line will be another area of interest. Both teams have defended without fouling, and both teams have been good at converting from the line when they get there. Syracuse has been slightly more effective at getting to the line. This could be another area that shifts the game.
It will be another great test for the Wildcats, and one that comes with a bit of added importance with the losses to UCLA and Purdue and a tough matchup with Baylor looming before Big East play kicks off.
The game is schedule for a 9 p.m. tip and will air on ESPN.
