Three-point shooting is important in every game. It might be the most important statistic in all of basketball right now. That could not be more true heading into Wednesday’s game between Syracuse and Florida State. This will be the third (and likely final) matchup between these two teams this season.
Back in early December, these teams opened conference play down in Tallahassee. The game was not fun to watch. Both teams shot under 35% from the field and had double-digit turnovers. It was ugly, to say the least.
Coming off a dramatic double-overtime win over Indiana earlier in the week, the Orange looked gassed. But, the shooting of Cole Swider and Joe Girard carried SU to victory. Each player made four threes, and Syracuse made nine as a team while Florida State went 4-30 (that’s 13.3%) from behind the arc.
Those threes made the difference in the game, and it looked like the Orange had an early-season resume-boosting win. SU would win or lose games based on its shooting, and it certainly did after the FSU game.
In between games against the Seminoles, the Orange went 3-4 with a COVID pause in between. By the time SU and FSU met for the second time, Syracuse was under .500 and sputtering in the ACC.
The second matchup was not similar at all to the first. Both teams shot over 45% from the field, and 40% from three in the game. But, Caleb Mills went 5-6 from behind the arc as Florida State made 12 threes to steal a win in the Carrier Dome.
Cole Swider and Buddy Boeheim were the only Syracuse players to hit multiple threes, as they combined for six. The Orange had seven for the full game, a major reason why the ‘Noles got a win on the road in mid-January.
That’s your recap for the season series between Syracuse and Florida State. Symir Torrence might be back for SU in this game after missing the last two. That might have an impact, but it’s clear what is going to decide Wednesday afternoon’s matchup.
Whichever team makes more threes on the Barclays Center court on Wednesday afternoon will win the game. It’s that simple.
