After a winless trip to the Barclays Center where Syracuse (4-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) played Oklahoma State and Penn State this past weekend, the Orange host Iowa (5-2) in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday. The Hawkeyes beat No. 12 Texas Tech last Thursday in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational but fell to unranked San Diego State the next day.

Here’s what our beat writers think will happen Tuesday night:

Nick Alvarez (7-0)
Eating crow
Iowa 75, Syracuse 70

I thought this past week would provide the best look at Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament chances. Two demoralizing losses later and, well, this Iowa contest feels like a must-win. Or, at the very least, this admittedly “not ready” squad, according to Boeheim, has to have a competitive showing against a Power 5 opponent. While the friendly confines of the Carrier Dome should help, I don’t think SU comes away with the win on Tuesday night. Iowa’s two 6-foot-11 forwards should pose one of the worst matchups for SU this season, and that’s not even considering the current state of Syracuse’s front court. Bourama Sidibe is coming off a cold that limited him against Penn State and Marek Dolezaj hasn’t stayed out of foul trouble. That opening should be enough for Iowa to top the reeling Orange.

Michael McCleary (6-1)
Hawkeye on the prize
Syracuse 77, Iowa 73

Jim Boeheim said this team will take longer than he thought to come together. After two losses in Brooklyn, that makes sense. But let’s take a step back for a second. Consider the way in which Syracuse lost. The Orange hardly hit any shots against Oklahoma State and lost by 14. That same Oklahoma State team went on to win by 40-plus points two nights later. Then, SU faced off against a Penn State team that, if not for a late game collapse, would have blown out Ole Miss in their prior game. Again, Syracuse didn’t hit the shots it needs to and lost by 21 points. There’s no denying the Orange have been inconsistent this season. Saying “they’re due” wouldn’t be right, considering how much they will probably struggle early. But at this point in the season, it’s still hard to predict against the Orange considering all the things that seemed to go wrong for them the past two games. Boeheim said this is a bad year to have a tough schedule, and he’s right. But Elijah Hughes is a sure thing, and if the Orange can get one or two more things to go right, they might be able to come out of this game with a much-needed win.

 Josh Schafer (6-1)
Another one bites the dust
Iowa 72, Syracuse 60

This past week was our early benchmark for how SU would fare in the 2019-20 conference slate. Thus far, Syracuse hasn’t done enough. Losses against DePaul and San Diego State prove the Hawkeyes are beatable, but it’s what Iowa does well that should be a concern for the Orange. Iowa’s a top-10 team in the country in scoring off assists, many of which go inside to one of their two 6-foot-11 forwards. The same thing that hurt Syracuse against Penn State can likely hurt them too much against Iowa as well.

Published on December 2, 2019 at 8:11 pm