Syracuse’s coming week, with St. Bonaventure visiting the Carrier Dome on Tuesday and Elon on Saturday, is the last chance to tune up before a string of tough non-conference opponents.

The Orange (1-0) will head to the Bahamas and play Connecticut or Michigan on Nov. 26 and one of Gonzaga, Texas, Texas A&M or Washington in its third game. After that, SU faces Wisconsin at home, Georgetown on the road and St. John’s on the road in a four-game stretch.

This team has a lot to improve on, as is expected at the start of the year, after an underwhelming 57-47 win over Lehigh on Friday. Matchups with the Bonnies and Phoenix are two good chances to work the kinks out, and here are a few things to know about each game.

St. Bonaventure (1-0) — Tuesday, 7 p.m., Carrier Dome (ESPN3)

All-time series: Syracuse leads 23-3.

Last time they played: Syracuse beat the Bonnies 85-72 on Dec. 19, 2009. The Orange was led by 18 points and 10 rebounds from Rick Jackson.

St. Bonaventure report: The Bonnies beat Binghamton, 63-53, to open its season on Friday. St. Bonaventure shot just 4-for-19 from 3 but worked the Bearcats inside. Dion Wright, a 6-foot-7 senior forward, led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds. Denzel Gregg, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, added 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Senior guard Marcus Posley returns as the Bonnies’ leading scorer (16.7 points per game last year) and got off to a slow start in the opener. He scored five points on 2-of-10 shooting — and 1-for-5 from 3 — but did collect seven rebounds and four assists. Either way, St. Bonaventure’s versatile forwards carried the load and it’s unlikely that Posley will stay that cold for two straight games.

How St. Bonaventure competes with Syracuse: Wright and Gregg are effective inside, and Wright also made two 3s a game last year to stretch the floor. But the Bonnies didn’t play anyone over 6 feet 7 inches against Binghamton and the Orange starts a 6-foot-7 point guard in Michael Gbinije. If St. Bonaventure wants to pull off an early-season upset, Posley and Jaylen Adams will need to stretch out SU’s zone to free up Wright on the inside. The Bonnies also shot 19-for-25 from the foul line against the Bearcats, and getting Syracuse’s bigs in early foul trouble could help them stay in the game.

Elon (1-0) — Saturday, 7 p.m., Carrier Dome (ESPN3)

All-time series: Saturday will be the teams’ first meeting.

Elon report: Elon opened its season with an 85-74 win over Charlotte, which Syracuse will face in the Bahamas on Nov. 25. The Phoenix will play No. 25 Michigan on the road Monday, and its non-conference schedule also features a game at Duke on Dec. 28. Dmitri Thompson paced Elon against the 49ers, scoring 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and collecting eight rebounds. Tyler Sebring — who, along with Brian Dawkins, is the tallest player in the Phoenix’s rotation at 6 feet 8 inches — chipped in 11 points in 21 minutes but also didn’t grab a rebound. Aside from Thompson, Elon’s biggest contribution came from Dainan Swoope who scored 11 points and made three 3s off the bench. The Phoenix doesn’t have a notable frontcourt, but it plays a lot of guards and shot a decent 35.1 percent from 3 last year.

How Elon competes with Syracuse: Like most mid-major teams trying to upset Syracuse, Elon needs to shoot and run to even tease an upset. With the Orange taking so many 3s, long rebounds can turn into transition opportunities for opposing teams if SU’s guards are slow to get back on defense. Seven different Phoenix guards played at least 12 minutes against Charlotte, and keeping fresh legs in against Syracuse could help Elon use Orange’s preferred fast pace in its favor. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the Phoenix’s small frontcourt to get looks at the rim and Elon will need to be hitting 3s in the half court to have a prayer at competing.

Published on November 15, 2015 at 11:38 pm

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