With inclement weather approaching the Sioux Falls, South Dakota area, Syracuse took off a day early on Tuesday to arrive in the location of its third NCAA tournament game. The Orange (27-7, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) will have extra time to rest ahead of the program’s first-ever Sweet 16 game on Friday at 7 p.m. against top-seeded South Carolina (33-1, 16-0 Southeastern).

SU easily pushed aside Army and Albany in the program’s first NCAA tournament games in the Carrier Dome, while the Gamecocks dismantled Jacksonville and Kansas State by a combined 62 points.

Here’s what to know about Syracuse’s matchup with South Carolina.

All-time series: South Carolina leads 3-1

Last time they played: The Gamecocks bullied SU in the Round of 32 last year, squashing the Orange in a 97-68 romp. The hosts built up a double-digit lead in the game’s first nine minutes, and never let Syracuse get within single digits afterward.

The match was a complete reversal from the wire-to-wire contest between the two teams, when the Gamecocks only edged SU by four points in November 2014. The NCAA tournament loss to South Carolina was troubling, junior guard Cornelia Fondren said, because of the team’s inability to nab rebounds and stay out of foul trouble.

The Orange was rung out on the boards by a 40-35 margin, and the Gamecocks’ 31 defensive rebounds didn’t give Syracuse many second-chance opportunities. Then-sophomore center Briana Day was whistled for two fouls in the first four minutes, burdening head coach Quentin Hillsman to cycle through backup post players Bria Day and Amber Witherspoon.

“Our pressing wasn’t effective with them the second time we played,” Briana Day said. “We weren’t physically tough with them, matching their aggressiveness.”

Six different South Carolina players scored in double digits, led by 14-point nights from Tiffany Mitchell and Alaina Coates.

The South Carolina report: The Gamecocks bring forth one of the most balanced, dynamic starting lineups in the country. A’ja Wilson leads her team with 16.1 points per game to complement her conference-leading 3.1 blocks per game. Coates paced the SEC in field-goal percentage and rebounds per game. Khadijah Sessions is top five in the conference with 2.1 steals per game. Then there’s Mitchell, former two-time conference player of the year, who finished 2015-16 second on the team with 15.1 points per game.

What’s most prevalent about the four primary starters is their height, as Hillsman acknowledges the Gamecocks are the tallest team Syracuse has faced all year. Coates and Wilson, standing 6-foot-4 and 6-foor-5, respectively, are the pillars of an offense and defense able to break traditional basketball barriers.

“South Carolina is different,” Hillsman said. “They can put two (bigs) on the floor at the same time and have one on the glass and defend you on the perimeter. So I don’t know if anything can get you ready for them.”

But neither player fills the cookie-cutter role of a “big:” an intimidating force down low with minimal agility. Both players are capable of spreading the floor and punishing teams in the paint.

How Syracuse beats South Carolina: Physicality. It was the buzzword thrown around by every SU figure asked about beating the Gamecocks. The presence of Coates and Wilson allows South Carolina to double up on bigs under the basket, likely forcing the Orange to lean on long-range shots when the paint is sealed off.

Doesn’t sound like a problem for an SU team that led the ACC with 17 3-point tries per game, until considering Brianna Butler, the NCAA’s active leader in made 3s, is only 4-for-26 from behind the arc in SU’s last three games. She’s long established herself as the team’s go-to shooter, but Syracuse’s first two opponents have been weak enough where the offense hasn’t suffered without Butler’s help.

“Coach Q is just talking about going back and forth with 3s,” Fondren said. “We don’t want them to beat us in the paint and go inside.”

On the other side of the ball, even if the Orange plays tight defense on the block and keeps Wilson and Coates’ shots out of the net, it’s going to have to work doubly hard to keep those two from elevating for second-chance points. Coates leads the Gamecocks with 101 offense rebounds, and Wilson trails just behind with 86.

South Carolina Athletics

“This has to be our most physical game,” said Briana Day, SU’s leading rebounder. “This is one where we all have to rebound. We can’t take any possessions off. We can’t start falling back (on shots). We’ll get back after we get the rebound.”

Numbers to know:

18.7 – The Gamecocks have run away from their opponents better than nearly any team in the country, with the nation’s sixth-best scoring margin. They’ve nearly doubled that thus far in the NCAA tournament.

20.4 – Alexis Peterson has manufactured most of Syracuse’s offense with her team-leading points per game average in five postseason games.

559 – The size of South Carolina means its game doesn’t necessarily have to be predicated on the 3-ball, and it certainly isn’t. The Gamecocks have taken fewer 3s than 150 teams in the country, while Syracuse’s 1,027 shots behind the arc was the third-most in the country.

Player to watch: Tiffany Mitchell

Mitchell gets lost in the fray when most attention is diverted toward Coates and Wilson. But on paper she’s arguably more dangerous than either player in her ability to spread the floor. Neither Coates or Wilson has attempted one 3-pointer this year, but Mitchell leads South Carolina with 172 attempts. SU has to be careful not to take its eye off her if it finds success shutting off Coates and Wilson.

They said it:

“She’s a great lead guard that keeps the defense honest with her ability to stretch the floor out, her ability to attack the rim, and she makes everybody around her better. She does a great job scoring, finding open teammates and just reading defenses extremely well. You want that kind of effort from your lead guard.” – South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley on Peterson

“I give them both respect. They both can move as bigs. They can get up and down the floor, block shots. But we have to take our advantage over them. To be a little smaller than them. Move a little faster. Our posts I feel like are more athletic because they’re a little smaller than them, so they can run up and down the floor, run past them.” – Fondren, on how Syracuse can exploit Coates and Wilson.

“It’s tough to have things that you look at and say, ‘Hey, something about them does not impress me.’ When they need to make big 3s, they make big 3s. When they need to get something done, they have enough talent and skill to get it done. They’re just a very good basketball team.” – Hillsman, on facing South Carolina Friday.

Published on March 23, 2016 at 9:32 pm

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