Syracuse vs. Northeastern: TNIAAM predictions & poll

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team got quite the scare on Saturday, as they narrowly got pas the Cornell Big Red in the Battle of the Boeheims. Coach Jim Boeheim wasn’t pleased with his team’s performance, but Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett were able to carry the Orange across the finish line, moving them to 5-2 on the season.

Syracuse will look for a better performance together Tuesday night in the Carrier Dome against the 4-4 Northeastern Huskies. The TNIAAM crew was perfect in their predictions against Cornell — let’s see what they’ve got to say about this matchup.

Dylan Finer

Syracuse 72, Northeastern 60

Northeastern has four capable shooters that frequently see the floor together. After Saturday night’s showing against Cornell, Syracuse is going to need to be better prepared to guard the three point line. This could quickly turn into a game if Northeastern is consistently finding open looks as Cornell had. However, I expect the Orange to dominate the glass and step up on the offensive end of the floor on its way to a win.

Bobby Manning:

Syracuse 70, Northeastern 63

Won’t take the Boston team here, but they do bring more to the Carrier Dome than a Syracuse native in Justin Roland. In fact, the Orange gets another chance to test its three-point defense in this one. They’ve held opponents to 31.7 percent from outside, but Northeastern’s 41.1 percent team average ranks 20th in college basketball. Roland himself hits 50.9%, while their top three scorers all average more than a steal per game. Syracuse needs to watch its turnovers, averaging over eight per game themselves. Battle is on a tear, Brissett is due to wake up with a significant outing and every game should yield better results for Frank Howard and all three will play against a defense allowing 49% shooting from the field to its opponents. Prime time for the offense to wake up again.

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Andrew Godnick

Syracuse 73, Northeastern 58

Syracuse had a lackluster game against the Big Red, but this is the perfect game for them to bounce back in a big way. I think Tyus Battle is about to go on a tear after a few consistent games, as he is becoming the offensive leader once again. Oshae Brissett will once again score the ball, but I’m looking at this game being the Frank Howard breakout game — he’ll finish with 18 points and eight assists.

Kevin Wall

Syracuse 65, Northeastern 60

The Huskies come into this game with the 26th best adjusted offense in KenPom’s rankings, but they also rank 313th in adjusted tempo. This means we should be in for another game with an opponent working the shot clock and trying to limit possessions. Syracuse native Jordan Roland leads them in scoring and coming off a win over Eastern Michigan, Northeastern should be better prepared for the 2-3 zone. Syracuse has an advantage on the boards and we should once again see the offense running through Tyus Battle. I think it will be another close game until the end, but the Orange will survive.

James Szuba

Syracuse 76, Northeastern 59

Syracuse put together a very mediocre performance against Cornell on Saturday, but I look for the Orange to take a step forward in this game as the offense gets going. Oshae Brissett and Tyus Battle should have no problem scoring the ball while Elijah Hughes improves and Frank Howard starts to get in rhythm.

John Cassillo

Syracuse 77, Northeastern 65

Northeastern’s no pushover, having already beaten Alabama this year, and they also shoot over 40 percent from beyond the arc. They don’t have much size, so Syracuse will have a big advantage on the boards. However, if outside shots are falling for the Huskies, that largely gets negated. It’s hard to look worse (as a group) on offense than the Orange did against Cornell, so I’m going to assume things are better and that someone other than Tyus Battle actually gets going this time.