Syracuse enters their first ACC season undefeated. The team closed out their non-conference schedule going 13-0 and start in their new home with all of the momentum. The Orange have no time to rest as they prepare to face Miami who is the defending conference champions.
Syracuse is coming off another big win against Eastern Michigan with they went 20 for 26 on field goals and held the opponent to 31.5 percent shooting. The issue that has some fans worried is Tyler Ennis went completely scoreless in the win. The freshman insists it was just a bad game, which is true considering Ennis has been one of the biggest players in the first part of the year. He is scoring 12.8 points per game, while putting up 26 assists in the last four games.
Jerami Grant and Rakeem Christmas will help give the team an edge. Both players are coming off top performances of their college careers. Christmas is shooting 77.8 percent this season while Grant is averaging 12.9 points per game.
Facing Miami will be a heavy test. The Hurricanes are on a three-game win streak, shooting 52.3 percent in during that time. They won each game by an average of 17.7 points while holding opponents to just 40.0 percent shooting.
The team is lead by Rion Brown who is the team's leading scorer with 13.8 points per game. He could be tested against Syracuse. The Orange's zone defense could cause headaches for Brown who normally shoots just 28.6 percent from long distance.
Syracuse has the home court advantage in their first ACC matchup. They have won 48 of the last 50 at home. The two teams were once rivals, normally putting on a fun Big East, ACC matchup. It will be a tough task for the Hurricanes though to stay in this since Syracuse has won 41 consecutive games at home when facing unranked opponents.
