Looking for its first marquee win of the season, Syracuse (12-9, 4-4 Atlantic Coast) hosts No. 6 Florida State (18-3, 6-2) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday at noon. The Seminoles are coming off a shocking loss to Georgia Tech on Wednesday, while SU edged Wake Forest in the Dome on Tuesday night.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Orange’s matchup with FSU.

All-time series: Syracuse leads, 6-2

Last time they played: In what was widely termed a must-win game for SU to make a solid impression on the NCAA Tournament selection committee, the Orange fell on the road, 78-73, to Florida State in last year’s regular season finale. Of course, Syracuse earned the Tournament bid some thought it lost that night in Tallahassee, Florida, but the Seminoles’ young nucleus carried the hosts on this night.

Malik Beasley led FSU with 20 points as Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes each chipped in 16. Florida State shot 50 percent in the second half, outscoring the Orange by nine en route to the five-point win. Michael Gbinije keyed a late second-half rally in which SU cut the deficit down to two with 32 seconds left, but even his 16 points in the second stanza weren’t enough.

Florida State report: The Seminoles are one of the biggest surprises of the college basketball season. A team that wasn’t ranked until the third week of the season, FSU won 14 of 15 games (including six of seven against ranked foes) to achieve the program’s highest ranking since the 1992-93 season. Leading FSU’s furious ascension is Bacon, a sophomore guard who’s scored double-digits in his last 30 games. His remarkable consistency has translated to a team-leading 17.1 points per game and a 45 percent shooting clip from the field.

Six-foot-10 freshman forward Jonathan Isaac is hauling in 7.8 rebounds per game, anchoring the frontcourt for a Seminoles team that’s second tallest in the country according to Kenpom.com.

How Syracuse beats Florida State: FSU boasts the second-best offense in the ACC, but as it proved on Tuesday, shooting inefficiency could easily be the team’s downfall. Against the Yellow Jackets, Florida State missed 51 shots while shooting only 28.2 percent. The good news for Syracuse is that its defense has inexplicably been better on the Carrier Dome court than anywhere else. Preventing the Seminoles from scoring has got to be the first order of action before trying to build its own cushion on the scoreboard.

Statistically, Florida State doesn’t play outstanding defense. It yields plenty of 3-point opportunities and isn’t all that great at rebounding the ball. The point is that FSU is not impervious to mistakes. Perhaps more so than any game this season, the Orange will need its best 40 minutes of basketball to seize any opportunities handed to it. Taurean Thompson needs to use his solid performance against the Demon Deacons as a building block, and continue growing on both sides of the court into something more than a complimentary piece to Tyler Lydon, Andrew White and Tyus Battle.

Stat to know: 8.2

In a gauntlet stretch of playing six consecutive ranked conference opponents, Florida State went 5-1 and won those five games by an average of 8.2 points. Highlighting that stretch is a win over then-No. 21 Virginia Tech by 15 — a team SU lost to by 10 — and a 16-point win against then-No. 7 Duke. The Seminoles went through the ultimate proving ground for any college basketball team, and came out remarkably well. It’s hard to imagine Saturday’s afternoon’s contest not going the way of Florida State, but if it’s any consolation for the Orange, it doesn’t need to look much further than FSU’s most recent game for any underdog inspiration.

Player to watch: Dwayne Bacon, guard, No. 4

Just as Florida State has excelled against some of the nation’s best teams, so has Bacon. He’s unquestionably the Seminoles’ best player, and asserted himself as one of the best in the ACC. Among several marquee performances this season, he topped out at 29 points in an upset win over Virginia, including a game-winning 3 with two seconds left. Bacon’s demonstrated a consistent ability to hit contested shots, especially around the arc. His 36.7 3-point shooting percentage is top among FSU’s starters. He’s more likely than any other player to give SU’s defense fits.

Published on January 26, 2017 at 10:56 pm

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