NCAA TOURNAMENT PREVIEW: SYRACUSE VS ARIZONA STATE

March 21, 2009


Quietly, Syracuse is putting together a very impressive run of good basketball. The Orange are 27-9 on the season and have won nine of their last 11 games, including Friday's NCAA Tournament opening round win over Stephen F. Austin, 59-44, in Miami.

The only losses in the recent run of the Orange have come to Villanova, who has already advanced to the Sweet 16, and Louisville, the overall top seed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

SU will look to continue their winning ways on Sunday against Arizona State, the 6th-seed in the South Region with a berth in the Sweet 16 on the line. Syracuse, maybe the most famous zone team in America, will have their offense put to the test against Herb Sendek's match-up zone defense.

"It's a good defense," SU coach Jim Boehiem said of the ASU match-up zone. "It's a difficult defense to play against. Arizona State plays it the best of anybody right now in college basketball."

The Sun Devils, 25-9 on the season, got past Temple by the score of 66-57 in round one. They earned the victory despite James Harden being held to one made field goal and nine points. In his 68-game college career, Harden has only failed to reach double figures in points nine times including Saturday. On the season, Harden averages 20.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Odds are, he will have a big game against SU. In his career, Harden averages 22.5 points a game following a single-digit offensive performance.

"He's a tremendous player," said Boeheim. "We expect him to have a good game."

Although the two schools have very little basketball history, their star players, Harden and SU point guard Johnny Flynn are very good friend and the head coaches know each other well and have a lot of respect for each other. Syracuse will look to use their size underneath to dominate the pain and hope that Flynn will find seams in the match-up zone and locate the Orange shooters.

Sendek knows the challenge of facing a strong Big East program will be a tough one as he things highly of the chances for the Orange in the tournament.

"I really think they're in the mix of teams from the beginning who people who could
legitimately point to and say hey, they're a contender for the National Championship," said Sendek.

If SU is a contender, then getting past the Sun Devils on Sunday will be a mission they must complete. Syracuse is an ever-so-slight 2 1/2-point favorite according to the college basketball betting lines. With the strength the Big East has been showing, it should give you confidence in this Syracuse squad.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Syracuse 68
Arizona State 61