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Adrian Autry garnered a win in his first regular season game as head coach during Syracuse’s 83-72 victory over New Hampshire.

In the opening 10 minutes, SU pushed the pace for easy transition buckets. Defensively, the Orange’s man-to-man defense forced UNH into ill-advised shots as they generated an early 32-9 lead.

One of the biggest storylines at the JMA Wireless Dome, however, was Autry’s decision to switch his defense to the familiar 2-3 zone. The tactical change, implemented in the last seven minutes, kept the Wildcats at bay until the final buzzer.

Syracuse returns to action against Canisius on Wednesday for its second game in three days. The Golden Griffins are coming off of their second consecutive losing season but have nine returning players.

Here’s what our beat writers expect to happen when Syracuse takes on Canisius:

Cole Bambini (1-0)
The small things
Syracuse 86, Canisius 70

Against New Hampshire, Syracuse seemed well on its way to a blowout win. It led 32-9 at one point and the Orange’s fast-paced tempo was too much for the Wildcats. But then, they went flat. The shots weren’t falling and UNH trickled back. I think Syracuse is still working out the small things and it’ll likely have some minor struggles against Canisius, but nothing too threatening.

Autry switched to the 2-3 zone once Mintz returned to the game with four fouls and that’ll likely be a common in-game move over the course of the season if Syracuse tires. Offensively, the Orange need to make their shots. They shot just under 24 percent from deep and just over 37 percent from the field in the second half while possessions looked rushed.

Despite some early season struggles, Syracuse should be fine. SU has beaten Canisius 21 consecutive times dating back to the 1975-76 season, one year before Boeheim took over. The Golden Griffins begin their season Wednesday and come off two consecutive seasons where they’ve lost 20 games.

Henry O’Brien (1-0)
Looking to Colgate
Syracuse 84, Canisius 69

My tagline for the opening game of the season was “some concerns.” There might be a few more concerns. Syracuse’s shooting performance in the second half against New Hampshire was well below average (37 percent) and the team’s total 3-point percentage was a ghastly 23.8 percent. Mintz was impressive at driving to the rim and drawing fouls, but his backcourt mate went 3-of-13 from the field.

If the Orange want to improve on last season, J.J. Starling will need to shoot better. He has the opportunity to perform against a Canisius team that SU should beat with relative ease. But that might be saying too much considering Syracuse struggled for long stretches against New Hampshire.

While the Orange will win the game, can they answer some lingering questions from the first game? Can Starling or Chris Bell shoot better? Can Naheem McLeod get more than just three rebounds? Will Benny Williams come back? And most importantly, can this team actually play man-to-man defense throughout a whole game? This will be another tune-up game for Syracuse, but it needs to play better to give fans confidence that it can end the two-year skid to Colgate.

Tyler Schiff (1-0)
Closer than expected
Syracuse 84, Canisius 75

Syracuse looked near-perfect through the first 10 minutes in its season opener. The Orange did well to get out in transition and their new-look man-to-man defense clicked. But near the waning minutes of the first half, SU lost control. It allowed uncontested jumpers and drives for easy buckets. Its offense sputtered and couldn’t convert.

Syracuse held a 23-point lead at one point, but with seven minutes remaining in the contest, UNH trailed by just eight. Autry said postgame he expected SU to lose a little steam going into halftime and didn’t seem too worried. He was right — the Orange ended up winning comfortably by a double-digit margin.

Though the Golden Griffins won’t lay down without a fight, Syracuse has the talent to easily pick apart this mid-major team. It should use the second nonconference test as a way to improve the consistency of its outside shooting. Still, expect this matchup to finish a little too close for comfort.

Published on November 8, 2023 at 12:26 am