In a rematch of early January’s tilt in the Carrier Dome, eighth-seed Syracuse (18-13, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) faces ninth-seeded Miami (20-10, 10-8) in the second round of the ACC tournament Wednesday at noon. The winner advances to the quarterfinals to face top-seeded North Carolina at the Barclays Center on Thursday at noon.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Hurricanes before Wednesday’s matchup.

All-time series: Syracuse leads, 17-7

Last time they played: The Orange held Miami to below 30 points in each half in a 70-55 win in the Carrier Dome on Jan. 4. Andrew White and Tyler Lydon scored 22 and 20, respectively, to lead the Orange and Miami turned the ball over 15 times. Syracuse shot 56.8 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from 3, on top of hitting 12-of-14 from the foul line. Sharpshooter DJ Vasiljevic was Miami’s only player in double figures, and all 18 of his points came from behind the arc.

The Miami report: After sliding into the AP Top 25 before the last week of the regular season, Jim Larranaga’s team dropped its last two games of the regular season against Virginia Tech and Florida State. The Hurricanes had four separate two-game losing streaks during the regular season, and SU will be tasked with trying to deal Miami its first three-game slide. The Hurricanes are one of the top-20 defensive teams in the country, according to Kenpom.com, but Syracuse has already showed that rank can mean nothing against the Orange.Senior Davon Reed took home All-conference honors, making the All-ACC Third Team and All-ACC Defensive Team.

How Syracuse beats the Hurricanes: It may come down to how White shoots, given that he’s the catalyst to Syracuse’s offense and his play has often dictated the flow of SU’s offense. He led the Orange to a 15-point win last time against Miami and as he showed Saturday against Georgia Tech, the fifth-year senior can go unconscious from deep even after a multi-game stretch of being nowhere close to that. If White is hitting 3s, it frees up Tyus Battle and John Gillon to create from the perimeter. A stout defensive showing like Syracuse’s from early January wouldn’t hurt, but White is the key to the Orange advancing to the quarterfinals.

Stat to know: 63.4

Points per game allowed by the Hurricanes. Miami ranks second in the ACC in scoring defense, trailing only Virginia.

Player to watch: Bruce Brown, guard, No. 11

Brown flew under the radar when it came to ACC freshman, ceding the spotlight to the likes of Dennis Smith Jr., Jayson Tatum and Jonathan Isaac. In the regular season, Brown averaged the third-most points per game on the team (11.8), the second-most rebounds (5.7), the second-most assists (3.3) and the most steals (1.5).

Published on March 7, 2017 at 9:37 pm

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