Syracuse men’s basketball: predictions and poll for Florida State

Feb 8, 2023 - 7:00 PM

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The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team (14-10, 7-6) enters its Wednesday night road contest versus the Florida State Seminoles (8-16, 6-7) hoping for one last push to the finish line before suiting up for the 2023 ACC Tournament.

After this game, the Orange will face a slate that includes #22 NC State, Duke, Clemson, Pitt and Wake. It’s a good chance for ‘Cuse to build up some momentum before a make-or-break stretch as the regular season draws to a close.

Tip-off between Syracuse and Florida State is at 7 pm EST in Tallahassee, with the game also available for streaming on ESPNU.

Here are our predictions:

Dom

Syracuse 82, Florida State 74

This is a game that screams “all offense, no defense.” Florida State’s offense usually finds a way to get hot when it plays at home (especially against non-ranked opponents), while Syracuse is one of the best-scoring teams in the ACC on paper. At the same time, neither team is otherworldly defensively, which means this will come down to the possession battle. Jesse Edwards is going to need to have another big day after finishing with a career-high 27 points against BC. If the Orange don’t shoot themselves in the foot, this should be a comfortable-ish win. Then again, we’ve all heard that before, right?

Kevin

Syracuse 75, Florida State 73

Neither team has done the job defensively so this one should be a close and exciting affair. The Seminoles have three bigs to use as they try and slow down Jesse Edwards but Syracuse should continue to feed their center like they did against Boston College. This is also a game where the Orange can look to run and get some open 3’s before the Seminoles defense can get set. This one will be decided by the turnover battle, so if Syracuse values the ball, they can get their second straight road win.

Mike

Syracuse 76, Florida State 69

FSU may have some tall bodies on the bench, but none of them are in the business of playing 30+ minutes. The ‘Noles will rotate guys in the lineup often and ‘Cuse should be prepared to do the same to get the matchups they want. While Jesse is coming off a great offensive game, his defense should get a boost here against the second-worst rebounding team in the conference. Don’t let the opposition’s recent improvement fool you - they have just one win over teams currently +.500. It’ll be closer than the records would indicate, but a win nonetheless.

Christian

Syracuse 73, Florida State 70

Florida State may have some size to cover Jesse Edwards, but there are a few things that start to swing this game in Syracuse’s favor. The Seminoles rank 10th in the ACC in offensive rebounds and three-point percentage. Florida State also ranks seventh in the conference in turnovers forced per game. The Seminoles aren’t going to consistently get the extra possessions needed to wear out the Orange defense, and there aren’t enough Florida State perimeter shooters to take advantage of

Syracuse’s poor three-point defense. The Seminoles need multiple people to help Darin Green from range or else this game is not going to be as close as we think.

Szuba

Syracuse 74, Florida State 70

Syracuse should be able to handle a challenged Florida State team at home. The Noles got off to a slow start this season and have the typical athleticism one might expect, but the zone forced them into outside shots last season, a weakness of the team. The last time these two teams squared off Syracuse blew the hinges off. While this game should be tighter, give us Mintz and Girard to lead Syracuse to victory with Maliq Brown and Justin Taylor playing key roles.

Now it’s your turn: