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Men's Basketball

5 things No. 1 Syracuse needs to do to avoid a letdown against Notre Dame

This seems like a tailor-made hangover game for Syracuse. The Orange is coming off an incredible overtime win against then-No. 17 Duke and is now the No. 1 team in the country. At 21-0, SU is off to its best start in school history, too. Last time a top-ranked Syracuse team set a record for best start in school history, it fell to Notre Dame. Here’s what the Orange needs to do to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself:

1. Stay poised.
That doesn’t seem like it should be an issue. Saturday’s 91-89 win was the first time SU really seemed excited after a win. The stoic C.J. Fair and Tyler Ennis should be able to keep Syracuse steady to start and then hold it together down the stretch.

2. Stop the 3-point shooters.
The Fighting Irish have some talented shooters and the Blue Devils had no trouble getting shots from the perimeter against the zone. Knocking them down is a whole different task, but to be safe the Orange needs to prevent UND from getting the same kind of looks that Duke did.

3. Contain Garrick Sherman.
The forward is the Atlantic Coast Conference’s leader in field-goal percentage, so if he plays in the high post he’s more of a scoring threat than Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee were on Saturday. Rakeem Christmas did a great job in his own right defensively and will need to continue to stop Sherman from beating SU inside.

4. More of that C.J.
Syracuse isn’t going to lose against the Irish if Fair plays anything like that again. Simple as that.



5. And a better Ennis.
Not that the guard had a bad game against the Blue Devils — he scored in double figures and dished out nine assists — but Quinn Cook did an excellent job denying him the ball. He needs to find a way to contribute on a more consistent basis if the Orange wants this to be a more comfortable victory.





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