Men's Basketball

Beat writers predict bounce-back win for Orange against Colgate

Chase Gaewski | Staff Photographer

Trevor Cooney has been on a hot streak in SU's past two games. The beat writers believe he'll be able to continue that against a 3-8 Colgate team.

Phil D’Abbraccio (8-2): Syracuse 67, Colgate 49
Brushed aside
Syracuse effortlessly rinses away the aftertaste of its near-upset of No. 7 Villanova on Saturday with a beating of its longtime upstate New York opponent. The signs indicate that the Orange’s offense is heading in the right direction — Kaleb Joseph and Michael Gbinije are coming off their best games, Trevor Cooney is hitting shots and Rakeem Christmas is proving his emergence down low isn’t a fluke. SU now begins a stretch of lower-level nonconference play before taking on the weaker Atlantic Coast Conference teams — games the Orange need to use to round into form before taking on the top dogs of the ACC. And that starts with Colgate on Monday night.

Jesse Dougherty (8-2): Syracuse 58, Colgate 41
Brushing up
It’s not a squeaky clean win, but it comes at a good time for a Syracuse team that just lost a heartbreaker to No. 7 Villanova in Philadelphia. In the Orange’s last two outings, Rakeem Christmas and Chris McCullough got in foul trouble and were hindered on both ends of the floor. But the Raiders don’t boast a low-post threat capable of sending either SU big man to the bench, and both sparkle in the early going to set up an easy finish at the Carrier Dome.

Jacob Klinger (8-2): Syracuse 68, Colgate 52
‘Gateway to victory
It’s worth noting that Colgate’s played a tough nonconference schedule on its way to a 3-8 start to the season. But not as important as realizing that the Raiders aren’t going to do much more than shoot a little — they make 35.2 percent of their 21.2 3s attempted per game — and at most frustrate Syracuse on the glass. Most importantly, while this may be the worst SU team in a long time, the Orange has played Colgate 24 times since 1979 and never lost.





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