Syracuse Vs. Marquette
When: Sunday March 20th, 7:40pm (aprox)
Where: Cleveland, Ohio
Syracuse lost at Marquette 76-70 on January 25th. It was the fourth loss in a row for the Orange and arguably the low point of SU's season. The win over SU was the highlight of a shaky regular season for the Golden Eagles.
Marquette barely made the NCAA tournament field as an 11 seed but looked stong in a victory over 6 seed Xavier. Their offense is based around junior guards Darius Johnson-Odum, Jimmy Butler and forward Jae Crowder. Johnson-Odum scored 19 points against Xavier including four huge three pointers.
Keys for Syracuse:
1. Get the ball to Rick Jackson. Jackson had 14 points in the first game on 6-7 shooting. Marquette doesn't have anyone who can match up with Jackson one on one and he should be the main option on the offensive end. If Marquette has to double team Jackson, SU's shooters will have open looks.
2. Go easy on the fouls. Most of the SU roster was in foul trouble in the January 25th game and Baye Moussa Keita fouled out. If Marquette shoots 33 free throws again, SU will be watching the Sweet Sixteen from their couches.
3. Box out. SU managed 24 rebounds in the last game but Rick Jackson only had four and Kris Jospeh had one. SU should be able to control the defensive boards against Marquette's smaller lineup.
4. Protect the ball. SU shot almost sixty percent from the floor in the loss to Marquette. How did they lose? Well, the 14 SU turnovers had something to do with it.
Keys for Marquette:
1. Don't settle for threes. Marquette used their speed and good ball movement to get loads of good looks and easy baskets. If they find the soft spots in SU's zone, they have the shooters to score in bunches.
2. Keep Jae Crowder active. Crowder buried SU with 25 points and seven rebounds in January. He's a tough match up - at 6-6 and 225 pounds, he's too strong for most guards but too fast for most big men. There are no easy answers for SU here.
3, Go easy on the fouls. Darius Johnson-Odum almost fouled out of the first game and the Golden Eagles can't afford to lose him, Butler or Crowder.
4. Stay hot. To be blunt, Marquette was fairly mediocre for most of the season. They looked fantastic in their past two wins over West Virginia and Xavier but this is a team that lost 14 games over the season.
SU fans should keep an eye on CJ Fair. He had 10 points against Marquette in January and 14 against Indiana State. Marquette's bench isn't very impressive and Fair could have another big game.
