Today’s the day! 11th seeded Syracuse takes on 3rd seeded West Virginia inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse at 5:15 PM. Definitely an exciting contest with plenty to look out for in terms of storylines for the Orange.
First, let’s address the elephant in the room; Will Buddy Boeheim continues on his quest to be the hottest player in college basketball? The guy has been in another stratosphere in the month of March, averaging 26 ppg coming into tonight. The biggest hole in the Mountaineer’s defense is their tendency to allow open threes. Will Buddy take advantage or will Coach Huggins squad transform into a three-point defending juggernaut? I’ll let you know how many threes the coach’s son drains pre-game, that’s usually a decent tell to how well he’ll play. Will the bench be as effective as they’ve been for the last several games? Jesse Edwards will need to show up on both ends of the floor against Derek Culver if the Orange want a chance at victory tonight. Culver is 6’10” 255 Ibs, meaning Marek Dolezaj might not stand a chance against him for long. Edwards will need to come in and relieve the Slovakian, and provide good minute son the interior. What somehow is flying under the radar from Friday’s performance was the shooting of Kadary Richmond. He drained two threes, not something we see him do often. Maybe he’ll be shooting the ball a little more pregame, I‘ll let you know on Twitter @OrangeFizz.
Is this a huge challenge for the Orange? Yes, of course, it is, but so was Michigan St. in 2018, and Virginia in 2016. Never count out the Orange in March, and besides, who doesn’t love playing West Virginia in a big game?
I’ll have you covered throughout the game on Twitter, a post-game reaction post on our website, and a FizzCast to give you both my and Gill Gross’ thoughts.
