Syracuse is off to a slow start this season, but a matchup with Albany could help the Orange right the ship.
Following a 69-64 loss to Notre Dame to open ACC play, Syracuse is now 4-4 through its first 8 games, far off the pace last season that saw the Orange put together a 20-win-season. Last year, Syracuse didn’t collect its fourth loss until the 14th game of the season, when it dropped to 10-4 against then No. 14 Duke.
That being said, the matchup against Albany feels like the perfect opportunity for the Orange to snap a two-game losing streak. Syracuse is 8-0 against the Great Danes all-time, with the last contest between the two schools ending in a 98-74 blowout victory for the Orange during the 2011-12 season.
The Orange don’t have the best momentum coming into this game but neither does Albany. The Great Danes have lost three of their last four games, and two of their six wins have come against D3 SUNY Oneonta and Siena, who finished last season as one of the worst teams in the country with a 4-28 record.
All of that points toward a blowout win for Syracuse, but to do that, the key for the Orange will be to win the three-point battle and limit Albany on defense. Syracuse has allowed its opponents to score 79.4 points per game and shoot over 32% from deep, and if it wants to avoid an upset, it’ll have to contain the Great Danes from beyond the arc.
As a team, Albany has made 36% of its three-pointers this season and has two players off the bench shooting over 45%. That’s bad news for the Orange if it wants to win the three-point battle, as they’ve made only 26% of their three-pointers and are currently one of just 14 teams across the country that have converted 26% or less of their attempts from deep.
In all four of Syracuse’s losses this season, the Orange have shot a worse percentage from three than their opponent. That weakness was painfully obvious in the team’s loss against Notre Dame, where the Fighting Irish shot 36% from three and canned eight three-pointers while Syracuse missed all nine of its shots from beyond the arc.
It’s not like the Orange will become one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country overnight. Still, their inability to shoot the ball even at a respectable clip makes it easier for defenses to key in on drives to the basketball and clogs up the paint. History might be on Syracuse’s side against Albany, but if the team struggles again from three, its 8-0 all-time record is at-risk.
