Syracuse (10-2) readies to face off against Eastern Michigan (8-3) Wednesday night. The Orange is coming off of just its second loss of the season in a 60-57 overtime loss to St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies started fast and pulled away in the extra period holding SU’s top scorer Tyus Battle to just 11 points in the game.

As Syracuse returns to the Carrier Dome for the third straight game, see who the beat writers predict in its matchup with the Eagles:

Matthew Gutierrez (11-1)
Swoop Down
Syracuse 78, Eastern Michigan 66

Rested and reloaded, Syracuse picks up a win in its final nonconference game of the season. Eastern Michigan runs a 2-3 zone, which EMU head coach Rob Murphy learned under Jim Boeheim as an SU assistant from 2004-11. It’s a defense which the Orange struggled against in a win over Georgetown a week and a half ago. But SU is the better team and, more than anything, the Orange needs practice in both playing against a zone defense and getting the ball in the scoring hands of more than just two or three players.

Tomer Langer (11-1)
Final Tune-Up
Syracuse 76, Eastern Michigan 58

Syracuse played rather poorly for much of the game against St. Bonaventure, but Eastern Michigan should provide the perfect bounce-back opportunity. The Eagles were crushed against a team ranked inside the Top 100, per Kenpom.com — which was Indiana in late November. Syracuse’s talent should flatly win out in this one.

Sam Fortier (11-1)
About 500 sad miles home
Syracuse 73, Eastern Michigan 50

No post-Christmas sluggishness from Syracuse as the wake-up call from St. Bonaventure has the Orange raring to go in the Dome on Wednesday night. Syracuse will jump out to a big lead and maintain it as Jim Boeheim has the opportunity to tinker with any lineups he might want to see a little more before conference play begins. While EMU makes a sad trip home to Ypsilanti, Michigan, the Orange can already start thinking about its ACC slate.

Published on December 27, 2017 at 11:35 am