SportsDirect Inc.
Preview: High Point at Syracuse
Syracuse is using its traditional pre-conference slate of games in the New York area to move all the way up to No. 2 in the country. The Orange will need to avoid looking ahead when they host High Point on Friday. Syracuse will welcome former Big East rival and current top-10 team Villanova to campus next weekend and has its first season of ACC play looming next month, leaving the Big South’s Panthers a potential afterthought.
The Orange played their first true road game of the season against another former Big East foe St. John’s on Sunday and came out with a 68-63 victory – it’s narrowest margin of the young season. C.J. Fair has taken over as the leader of the Orange and is responding well to the added responsibility with 19.8 points on 54.2 percent shooting in the last four contests. “I know I’m looked upon to deliver,” Fair told Syracuse.com. “I want to be there for my team.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN3
ABOUT HIGH POINT (3-6): Attempting to match Fair and Syracuse forward Jerami Grant highlight-for-highlight will be Panthers forward John Brown, who is averaging 20.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and a handful of above-the rim plays. “His motor is nonstop,” High Point coach Scott Cherry told Syracuse.com of his leading scorer. “He just works every single possession. He runs the floor in both directions. He’ll block a shot at one end and then sprint the floor and get a layup at the other.” Brown matched a season high with 26 points on Wednesday but it was not enough to prevent the Panthers from suffering a fourth-straight loss, 85-74 at Morgan State.
ABOUT SYRACUSE (10-0): Orange coach Jim Boeheim came away unimpressed after the win over St. John’s and is not putting much faith in his team’s lofty ranking. “I think we can become a good team,” Boeheim told reporters. “Right now we’re highly rated because we started out high and everybody else has lost. That’s it. That doesn’t mean you’re good. … We’ve got a lot of work to do.” Syracuse has four players averaging at least 12.3 points and is using its traditional 2-3 zone to limit opponents to 62.9 points.
TIP-INS
1. The Orange mark the highest-ranked team High Point has ever faced.
2. Syracuse G Trevor Cooney went scoreless on Sunday after reaching double figures in each of the previous seven games.
3. Orange F Rakeem Christmas is 8-for-9 from the field over the last four games.
PREDICTION: Syracuse 85, High Point 59
