Syracuse (2-2) enters its meeting with Colgate (4-1) coming off two losses at Madison Square Garden. The Raiders have won four in a row, including on Monday night against Binghamton. SU and Colgate will be meeting for the 171st time in their histories, making it the most-frequent matchup in Syracuse history. The Orange have won the last 52.

Here’s what our beat writers think will happen on Wednesday night in the Carrier Dome.

Charlie DiSturco (3-1)
Don’t panic
Syracuse 67, Colgate 56

Originally, this game seemed to be an easy win in between a tough Madison Square Garden trip and a road game at Ohio State, who’s now in the Top 25, the following week. But now, this comes in the middle of a crisis where Syracuse is searching for its identity and struggling both offensively and defensively. This is the perfect game, however, for the Orange to get back on track — and who knows, Frank Howard may make his season debut on Wednesday. It may not be a pretty win, but it’ll be one for the Orange nonetheless.

Billy Heyen (3-1)
Feeling 22
Syracuse 75, Colgate 60

Syracuse needs to find a way to get its offense and defense going. Against Colgate, the Orange should at least solve some offensive woes, as size and talent advantages exist all over the floor. I’ll be covering the game on my 22nd birthday, and if Syracuse doesn’t have a player score 22 points, that spells worry for the Orange. But regardless, as long as SU prevents the Raiders from making an obscene number of 3s, this should be a relatively easy move back into the win column for the Orange.

Matthew Gutierrez (2-2)
Back on track — somewhat
Syracuse 68, Colgate 58

This feels as though Colgate will hang around at halftime, maybe make the game close until midway through the second half. What we’ll learn most from this game is how much the rest and practice time benefited Syracuse. Maybe it didn’t. Either way, SU gets a week off before traveling to Ohio State, so whether SU benefited from several practices will show Wednesday night. The outcome will inform our thoughts on the kind of game next week in Columbus will be. Also: I wish all of our readers a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

Published on November 20, 2018 at 10:29 pm