The Syracuse Orange (13-5, 4-1) will be looking to continue their recent hot streak when they host the Miami Hurricanes (12-5, 1-4) on Thursday night.
Coming off a road upset of Duke and a home win against Pittsburgh, Syracuse enters the game sitting at 4-1 in conference play, good enough for a tie for second place in the ACC.
The Orange have predictably been led by guard Tyus Battle. Battle played a combined 85 minutes during Syracuse’s two game win streak and was the team’s leading scorer with 32 and 22 points respectively.
Paschal Chukwu continued his superb work on the glass against Pitt gathering 11 rebounds in addition to his six points.
As a team, the Orange went 12-26 from beyond the arc against Pitt, after knocking down 11 of their 25 three-point attempts against Duke. The Orange will need to continue their hot shooting stretch against a Miami team that is holding opponents to just 31% from three.
Miami’s lone ACC win came in a 76-65 home win against Wake Forest. The Hurricanes losses have come to teams who are, or have been, ranked in the Top 25 since the beginning of conference play.
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Miami’s depth, or lack thereof, has been exposed as in ACC play as one of the Hurricanes' biggest flaw. Coach Jim Larranaga has played just seven players for the majority of conference play. The Hurricanes have stayed with most teams through the first half, but seem to wear down as the games have progressed.
Part of Miami’s depth issue can be attributed to the season long absence of Dewan Hernandez. Hernandez would have been the Hurricanes' leading returning scorer, but has yet to play a game after being ruled ineligible follwoing his being implicated in the NCAA's corruption case. In addition, the Hurricanes have been without highly touted freshman Deng Gak who suffered an injury in early December against Yale.
The Orange beat Miami 62-55 in Coral Gables in the teams’ lone meeting of 2018. This year’s edition is scheduled to tip off in the Carrier Dome at 8 p.m.