Syracuse and Florida State are trending in opposite directions heading into Tuesday’s matchup on the Orange’s home court.
With five wins in its last six games, Syracuse (11-5, 2-1 ACC) has found an offensive rhythm in recent weeks. The Orange have scored at least 76 points during each of their last five victories, including an 83-72 triumph at Pitt on Saturday.
Donnie Freeman, who has been injured for most of the season, scored 22 points in his third game since returning to the Syracuse lineup. He made 3 of 6 3-pointers and has knocked down multiple shots from beyond the arc in each game since his return.
“He’s a guy who can stretch the floor,” Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said. “He’s capable of making three to five 3s a game.”
JJ Starling and Tyler Betsey each connected on three 3-pointers as well, helping Syracuse shoot 45.5% from deep.
The biggest key to the Orange’s recent surge, however, may be defense. The Panthers shot just 5 of 26 from 3-point range against Syracuse, four days after Georgia Tech shot 4 of 18 from outside the arc in a loss to the Orange.
“As of late, nobody has really been getting open looks against us,” Syracuse guard Naithan George said. “And that makes teams uncomfortable.”
Speaking of being uncomfortable, it was not a relaxing scene after Florida State (7-9, 0-3) fell to 2-8 in its last 10 games with an ugly 113-69 home loss to North Carolina State on Saturday.
“They continued to punch us in the mouth with no response,” Seminoles coach Luke Loucks said.
Florida State shot just 39.3% from the floor and 5 of 23 from 3-point land while allowing NC State to shoot 55.1% from the field and a blistering 19 of 35 from long distance.
“With our effort level, I’m actually surprised we only got beat by 40-something,” said Loucks, whose team was led by Thomas Bassong’s 14 points. “We should have been beaten by 70 with the way we played.”
The Seminoles and Orange met twice last season. Florida State won 90-74 in Tallahassee before Syracuse got revenge with a 66-62 victory in the ACC tournament.
