Tip off: 7 PM EST
Spread: SYR -15.5
o/u: 139
m/l: n/a
Odds taken from Bookmaker
SYRACUSE
Syracuse is going to be trying to compensate all year for the loss of a stud player. That player is of course Rick Jackson, who last season played a team high 35.9 minutes per game while leading the Big East in rebounding, blocked shots, and field goal percentage.
Coach Jim Boeheim realizes the indespensibility of the forward. “Ricky meant a lot to us last year, no question…We don’t have anyone on this team that is exactly like him, but we do have options.”
Those options include Rakeem Christmas, a 6’9? 222 pound freshman from Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. Christmas is a good shot blocker, much like Jackson was, and he has the potential to be a game changing defensive player. His offensive game will need refining at the NCAA level, but the potential is certainly there. In addition to Christmas, 6’8? C.J. Fair and 6’10? sophomore Baye
Moussa Keita, as well as James Southerland, will fill the void, largely by committee. Expect all four forwards to play a role in compensating for Jackson’s void, though Christmas has the potential to be every bit as good as Jackson was. Fair needs to add some weight to be more effective, but he knows how to play the game of basketball, while Southerland will be able to stretch defenses with his three ball.
Kris Joseph promises to play a big role for the Orange. Last season, Joseph led the Orange in scoring and shot 36% from three. He had a minor operation on his knee that should improve his leaping ability and add some power back into his game. Boeheim says he thinks Joseph will have “a very good senior season.” Last year Joseph averaged 14.3 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game, 2.2 assists per game, and played 32 minutes a night. He’ll get a chance to play those types of minutes again and will have to if the Orange are going to run deep in March. So far this season, Joseph has averaged 14.6 points per game and 5.6 rebounds
Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche (12.1 points per game so far) will be counted upon heavily in the backcourt again. Jardine posted 12.5 points per game, and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 41.5% from the floor, while Triche put up 11.1 points per game and 2.9 assists per agme, while shooting 41.9% from the field. Jardine’s 5.9 assists were tops in the Big East and he wasn’t afraid to step up when the team needed him. Triche’s role changed from that of a pass first point guard into a scoring off guard. His shooting will likely be better this season, after another off year of hard work. Dion Waiters, Michael Carter-Williams, and Trevor Cooney round out the rotation in the backcourt.
Jardine has been a big disappointment thus far and is only seeing 20 minutes a game, while scoring only 8.1 points and 4.5 assists per contest.
So far so good for the 8-0 Orange. They managed to beat #9 ranked Florida by 4 points on Friday night, and while they haven’t played any other good opponents, they have destroyed them all, and rank in the top 50 in the nation in all major statistical categories, including being 13th in the nation in assists with 17.4 per game.
MARSHALL
Last season was a good one by all accounts for the Thundering Herd of Marshall. They finished 10 games above .500 at 22-12, while posting a 9-7 record in Conference USA and losing to Ohio in the first round of the CIT, by only one point.
They lost Hassan Whiteside to the NBA and their coach left for UCF, but redshirt fresham DeAndre Kane was second on the team in scoring with 15 points per game and was named the Conference USA freshman of the year. He is tearing it up this season, too, again posting 15.8 points per game, a team high, to go with second team best 5.2 rebounds and second team best 3.3 assists per contest.
Teammate Damier Pitts scored 16 a game last year and is down a bit this year to a more humble 13.5 per game.
In the win over West Virginia last season, Pitts and Kane combined for 43 points and got to the line 23 times, which was their M.O. most of last season.
They also lost Tirrell Baines to graduation and Johnny Thomas headed over seas to play professinoally. Dennis Tinton has stepped up as they hoped he would so far, and is nearly averaging a double double. While he has had his off games (6 points and 4 rebounds in 16 mins against Jacksonville State, and 7 points and 4 rebounds in the win over UNC-Wilmington), he performed admirably in the win over Cincinnati, when he scored 15 on 6 of 10 shooting, pulled down 14 rebounds, and played the entire game. Tinton may be the x-factor for this Marshall team if they are going to make any kind of unexpected run, in which ever tournament they land in this post season.
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