Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Syracuse men’s basketball tries to keep winning against vengeful Florida State

Syracuse big man Jesse Edwards wins the tipoff to start his career-best 27-point night during the 77-68 victory over Boston College on Saturday, Feb. 4.
(cuse.com)
Syracuse big man Jesse Edwards wins the tipoff to start his career-best 27-point night during the 77-68 victory over Boston College on Saturday, Feb. 4.

Both Syracuse and Florida State have had relatively underwhelming seasons so far. The ACC rivals meet for their first and only matchup in Tallahassee on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

After defeating Boston College 77-68 at Chestnut Hill on Saturday, Syracuse sits at 14-10 on the season. FSU picked up an 81-78 victory against Louisville on Saturday, but the Seminoles come into this matchup with just 8 wins on the season. SU has failed to push toward a tournament appearance and has just a single quadrant-two win to its resume.

The Orange have found themselves needing things to go their way down the stretch. Head Coach Jim Boeheim acknowledged the recent struggle in his postgame press conference on Saturday.

“You lose four in a row, and we didn’t close a couple that we could have,” Boeheim said. "It’s always difficult when a team comes back and takes the lead from you, and we were able to make good plays down the stretch [of the Boston College game.]”

The schedule for Syracuse will also get tougher. Quad-one games against Duke, Clemson, and Pitt all loom later in the month. The last time the Orange made the NCAA tournament, they finished with an 18-10 regular season record. SU followed that up with two victories in the ACC tournament before falling to Virginia on a buzzer-beater.

Syracuse has found recent success in the ACC tournament, making it to the quarterfinals for the past four seasons. In last year’s tournament, Syracuse faced off against Florida State in the second round, taking down the Seminoles 96-57.

In that game, Cole Swider had 28 points. Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim had 14 and 12 points respectively. After Jesse Edwards broke his wrist last season, Frank Anselem took a majority of the center minutes. The 6’10 center had 15 rebounds in the game against FSU and has since transferred to Georgia.

The big storyline following last year’s matchup was the punch that Buddy Boeheim delivered halfway through the first half to Seminoles guard Wyatt Wilkes. No foul was called on the play but Boeheim was suspended for SU’s next game against Duke. The Orange lost 88-79 to the Blue Devils.

Syracuse and Florida State have yet to face off since then. The Orange roster also looks different since that game. Senior Joe Girard is the only SU starter that played against Florida State. The guard leads the team with 16.6 points per game this season, good enough for sixth in the conference.

Joe Girard carries the ball up the court for Syracuse during the 77-68 victory against Boston College. The senior finished with 18 points and four three-pointers.
Cuse.com
Joe Girard carries the ball up the court for Syracuse during the 77-68 victory against Boston College. The senior finished with 18 points and four three-pointers.

Jesse Edwards has come back from his injury and averaged 14.0 points with 10.1 rebounds. The center led the Orange with a career-high 27 points in the win against Boston College on Saturday.

“We lost a couple, tough ones too, so to come in here and get a great win is exactly what we needed,” said Edwards after his performance on Saturday.

The other three expected starters for the Orange will be freshmen. Judah Mintz has dazzled at the point guard position, putting up 15.4 points per game. The point guard has been a focal point for the offense as well, sitting eighth in the conference averaging 4.4.

Chris Bell has had highs and lows throughout his freshman campaign. After having 15 points in the UNC game a few weeks ago, the forward followed that up with 6 total points in the last three games.

Maliq Brown is the newest addition to the Syracuse starting rotation. After Benny Williams started the first 20 games of the season, the sophomore was benched in favor of Brown. Since then, Brown has averaged 6.3 points per game and 6.5 rebounds in four games.

Although a win against Florida State would only be a quadrant-three victory, it would put the Orange in the right direction toward a possible tournament appearance. A win would give Syracuse back-to-back victories and momentum at the right time.

The matchup between the Orange and the Seminoles is set for Wednesday at 7:00 at the Donald L. Tucker Center. WAER’s coverage begins with the McClurg Team Countdown to tipoff at 6:30.