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For the first time since the Atlantic Coast Conference expanded, Syracuse travels to the West Coast to face Stanford Wednesday. SU’s matchup with the Cardinal is its first of two West Coast bouts before it faces California Saturday. The Orange enter the trip on a two-game losing streak after a 14-point loss to Clemson last Wednesday, before falling to Pittsburgh 77-73 this past Saturday.

SU led by one at halftime against Pitt but let it shoot 58% from the field in the second half with Jaland Lowe scoring 18 of his game-high 22 points after the break. J.J. Starling — who dealt with foul trouble in the first half — led Syracuse with 16 points while Lucas Taylor and Chris Bell added 12 each.

The Orange will look to avoid dropping a third straight game against Stanford, but it won’t be easy. The Cardinal enter Wednesday’s contest on a three-game winning streak and winners of five of their last six.

Here’s everything to know about Stanford (14-6, 6-3 ACC) before it takes on Syracuse (9-11, 3-6 ACC):

All-time series

This is the first-ever meeting between Syracuse and Stanford.

KenPom Odds

Syracuse has a 22% chance of winning, with a projected score of 80-71.

The Cardinal report

Stanford is holding its own in its first season in the ACC. Under first-year head coach Kyle Smith, the Cardinal have already equaled their win total from last season with 11 regular-season games left. Last year, they finished four games below .500 and fired Jerod Haase after eight seasons. Smith previously coached at Washington State, leading the Cougars to their first NCAA Tournament since 2008.

Outside of Maxime Raynaud — Stanford’s leading scorer both of the last two years — Smith rebuilt the roster through the transfer portal. Former USC and Duke guards, Oziyah Sellers and Jaylen Blakes, were key additions in the portal. Both average 14.6 points per game, while Blakes is a lockdown defender and Stanford’s best distributor, averaging over five assists per contest. Sellers is a knockdown 3-point shooter, connecting on a team-high 43% of his attempts.

The guards have been key to Stanford’s strong play as of late. It started ACC play 1-2 but has only lost one game since Jan. 4, which came against Wake Forest. On Jan. 18, the Cardinal defeated UNC on the road after Blakes hit a last-second shot. They’ve also only lost one game at home this year — versus Cal Poly on Nov. 30.

Dakota Dorsey | Design Editor

How Syracuse beats Stanford

Syracuse needs to be better defensively against Stanford. The Orange are allowing 78 points per game, the second-lowest mark in the ACC. Miami is the only team allowing more points, with 80.6 per game. Though, in its last three loses, Syracuse is allowing just under 83 points per game. SU head coach Adrian Autry lamented his defense after the Pitt loss, imploring his players to be better on that end. With three viable scorers, keeping Stanford quiet could be a tall task.

On offense, the Orange have to keep shooting 3s. It might be weird to hear that since Syracuse has only hit 31.2% of its 3s this season, but it’s coming off two of its best shooting performances this season. Against Clemson, SU went 11-of-21 from deep. Against Pitt, it sank 11 3s again on a season-high 32 attempts. The best thing for the Orange is to keep firing away.

Stat to know: 8

This will be Syracuse’s eighth game without freshman forward Donnie Freeman. Adrian Autry said during his weekly media availability Monday that Freeman is still “day-to-day” with a foot injury. Freeman hasn’t played since Syracuse’s loss to Florida State on Jan. 4 and the Orange have missed his production. The forward is SU’s second-leading scorer with 13.4 points per game on 50% shooting, while pulling in 7.9 rebounds per game.

Player to watch: Maxime Raynaud, forward, No. 42

Raynaud is one of the best forwards in the ACC and the only player averaging a double-double in the conference. Raynaud leads the ACC in points per game (20.5) and rebounds (11.7), which is also the third-highest mark in the country. The senior is an imposing presence in the paint, standing over 7-feet tall, but also has perimeter skills. He’s attempted a team-leading 101 3-pointers this season, knocking down 35.6% of them.

Last year, Raynaud earned the Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year award after nearly doubling his scoring average from 8.8 to 15.5. As a senior, he’s taken another step forward, becoming a premier forward in college basketball. Even with his dominance, Raynaud is coming off his worst performance of the season, where he only scored eight points against Florida State. Yet, he’ll still be a handful for Syracuse.

Published on January 28, 2025 at 9:16 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22