Michigan State Basketball: Getting to know the Syracuse Orange

Syracuse presents an interesting challenge for Michigan State in the round of 32. What do the Orange bring to the table against the Spartans?

Michigan State walked into Little Caesars Arena on Friday night and triumphed over Bucknell in their opening-round game of this year’s NCAA Tournament.

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It was a good showing by the Spartans as Josh Langford looked to be back into form, Cassius Winston showed his ability to be a facilitator as well as a scorer and Miles Bridges showcased the star power we all knew he had.

The big 82-78 victory has now set up a date with the Syracuse Orange in the round of 32 on Sunday. Lets take a look at what the Orange are all about.

The 11-seeded Syracuse Orange (22-13, 8-10 ACC) are led by legendary coach Jim Boeheim who is in his 42nd season. A staple of Boeheim-led Syracuse teams is the 2-3 zone. What makes his scheme so effective, is how creative he will get with the zone. He will stretch the defense into a full or half-court press, but at the end of the day Boeheim is going to modify that zone specifically to his opponents weaknesses making it so effective.

Syracuse is a team known for forcing turnovers and contested threes with their zone defense. The Orange force an average of 12.8 turnovers a game, and opposing teams are shooting just 32.9 percent from behind the arc. A huge key to a Spartan victory will be defying these two stats, limit turnovers and knock down threes.

Now, Syracuse may be known for its stellar defense, but the Orange have some major flaws as well. They are offensively challenged, averaging only 67.3 points per game, and the majority coming from three guys.

Guard Tyus Battle leads the team with 19.7 points a game, followed by Oshae Brissett and Frank Howard who average 14.9 apiece. Outside of these three players, the next highest scorer on the bench averages 5.4 a game. That leads into the next major flaw the Orange have: their lack of depth.

Syracuse only runs a seven-man rotation, relying heavily on their starters to put in big minutes (Battle, Brissett and Howard all logged 40 minutes in their win over TCU on Friday). Foul trouble and fatigue are two of the biggest enemies the Orange have.

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At the end of the day the recipe for the Spartans is simple: find a way to attack and score on the zone effectively without turning the ball over. Without having an effective offense, Syracuse lives and dies by its defense, making it the focal point of the MSU game plan. The Spartans have struggled with zone defense this season, so conquering the legendary Syracuse zone could go a long way in making this season something special.