Syracuse (19-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) opens up its NCAA Tournament run with Dayton (25-7, 14-4 Atlantic 10) on Friday in St. Louis. The Orange got into the Tournament as a No. 10 seed, overachieving on the projections that had it as either one of the last four teams in or completely out.

After missing out on the NCAA Tournament last season, Syracuse is back. And here is everything you need to know about the No. 7 seed Flyers.

All-time Series: Friday will mark the fourth time that the Flyers and Orange have met. Syracuse is 1-2 and hasn’t won since the inaugural meeting in 1975.

Last time they played: The two teams haven’t met since March 22, 2014. That also happened to be in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament, when the No. 3-seeded Orange lost a 55-53 decision to No. 11-seed Dayton. Dyshawn Pierre and Jordan Sibert were the only players in double figures for the Flyers. And while Tyler Ennis led all scorers with 19 points, his buzzer-beating game-winning shot was off the mark and it ended an SU season that started out 25-0.

“When it left my hands it looked good,” Ennis said after the game. “Up until I saw it bounce out, I thought it was going to bounce back in.”

Syracuse shot 0-of-10 from 3 in that game and was outrebounded. The Flyers shot better, but still the Orange had a last-minute chance to avoid the upset. Many players were in the locker room crying after the loss.

 

Daily Orange File Photo

 

The Dayton Report: There are many of the same players that Dayton had on that 2014 team still on the roster — including four of its top five current scorers. The Flyers dominated the A-10 for most of the season but has lost four of its past eight games, including a three-point loss to St. Joseph’s in the conference tournament semifinals.

Dayton has posted wins this season over Monmouth, Iowa, Vanderbilt and St. Bonaventure. Its worst losses this season were on the road at La Salle and at home against Rhode Island. It has the 13th most efficient defense in the nation, per Kenpom.com and is one of the best defensive rebounding teams, a strength that has hurt Syracuse in recent games against Pittsburgh and North Carolina. The Flyers do turn the ball over on nearly 19 percent of their possessions, which is above the Division I average, and don’t get a ton of offensive rebounds.

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Breaking down the Syracuse-Dayton matchup
• Dougherty: One of Syracuse’s defining characteristics will no longer be enough
• Syracuse basketball roundtable: SU-Dayton and Trevor Cooney’s legacy

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How Syracuse beats Dayton: Syracuse has to be able to crash both the defensive glass, and the offensive glass against Dayton. If it can keep the rebounding battle even and make some of its 3-pointers, it will be in pretty good shape. The last time the two teams met, Syracuse was empty from behind the arc and that cannot happen again. Trevor Cooney needs to awake from his stupor and so does Tyler Roberson. The Flyers might be struggling just like the Orange, but they’ve won games this year on the defensive end and on the glass, and Syracuse can’t play the slow type of game that Dayton has forced its opponents to play all season.

 

Daily Orange File Photo

 

Stats to know

8 — times this season that Dayton has won a game while holding opponents to under 60 points.

10.8 — percent of 2-point shots that Steve McElvene blocks when he’s in the game, good for 14th in Division I, per Kenpom.

4 — Four of Dayton’s top five scorers were a part of the 2013-14 team that beat Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament.

Player to watch: Dyshawn Pierre is one of Dayton’s most high-volume scorers and also was its leading scorer against Syracuse in 2014. He posted 22 points in Dayton’s last game against St. Joseph’s. He may also be the guy with the ball in his hands late in this game if it’s close, since he’s a near-85 percent free-throw shooter, which is definitely rare for his big-man stature.

Published on March 16, 2016 at 12:51 am