Things haven’t been pretty early for Syracuse basketball, but two wins in two games, and a game to get right sets itself up Saturday in the Dome. But Youngstown State’s successes and problems are similar to that of the Orange…
This is the first-ever meeting between the Orange and the Penguins.
General Information
Teams: Youngstown State (1-1) at Syracuse (2-0)
Tip Time: 1 p.m. EST
Watch: ACCNX / ESPN+
Listen: TK99/105
What to know about Youngstown State:
Youngstown State hasn’t had much success as a program in Division I historically. However, they did win the Horizon League regular season title in 2023 and made their first NIT appearance.
So what’s happened so far this season in Youngstown, Ohio? They knotted a win in their season opener vs Chicago State, 80-60, then got trounced Monday night against Ohio State, 81-47.
Junior Forward Chris Carroll had 10 points off the bench against the Buckeyes, the only Penguin to reach double figures.
Not many shots were hitting Monday night for Youngstown State. In fact, they only hit three threes on 22 attempts, and shot 24% from the field. But what has kept them around in games this season is their ability to crash the glass. They currently rank 16th in the country in offensive rebounds, with 14.5 per game.
The Penguins are 0-9 vs ACC opponents all-time.
Latest on Syracuse basketball:
Syracuse has played two too-close for-comfort games against Central New York foes, in a four-point win vs Le Moyne and a two-point win vs Colgate, 74-72.
Tuesday’s game against Colgate came down to the wire, as Syracuse’s double-digit second-half lead shrunk to a single possession with seconds to go. Colgate had a chance to win or tie at the buzzer, but couldn’t get a shot off.
Eddie Lampkin Jr. led the Orange with 15 points, followed by Chris Bell with 14.
So what happened? Well, it all starts with coach Autry’s mindset. He preaches speed. In the postgame press conference he talked about the fact that Syracuse has around 20-25 more possessions a game then they did under Jim Boeheim. But against Colgate, speed nearly killed them. They lost the fast break points battle 22-2.
But their strength comes in getting rebounds (similar to Youngstown State). Syracuse currently ranks 14th in the country in rebounds, knotting 43 a game.
Syracuse needs to clean up their free throw shooting (they missed three straight 1-and-1’s to close out Tuesday’s game vs Colgate), and three-point shooting (outside the top 300). If they can do these things, Coach Autry can be confident in letting this offense live in the fast lane and ice the Penguins.