Syracuse gets another shot at a ranked opponent hosting Tennessee in ACC-SEC Challenge

Syracuse returns home after busting in Las Vegas at the Players Era Men’s Championship. The Orange (4-3) were dealt a series of tough hands in the event, dropping a couple of tightly-contested matchups before running out of gas in their final game against #10 Iowa State.

All told, SU performed well without forward Donnie Freeman, but will be without him again when they return home to take on #13 Tennessee. The Volunteers (7-1) did something Syracuse could not in Vegas by defeating #8 Houston, but like the Orange, they also lost to Kansas, suffering their lone defeat of the season in their last game there.

Tennessee is the last of its class on the Syracuse non-conference schedule, in that they are the last team the Orange will face before ACC play that would be classified on their resume as a good win, should they be able to knock them off. The Vols come to the JMA Wireless Dome ranked #13 at KenPom, including standing in the top 20 in both adjusted defensive and offensive efficiency.

The Volunteers have an effective inside game with a little more modern flair

Tennessee has done quite well on offense inside the arc while being better than average outside of it. The Vols do most of their work on that end with guard Jakobi Gillespie and bigs Nate Ament and J.P. Estrella carrying a lot of the load. Gillespie is a solid point guard who takes a lot of 3’s while Ament is a stretch four and Estrella is a traditional big man, doing a lot of inside work, including on the boards.

In fact, offensive rebounding is a big part of UT’s game, as they stand second in the country in offensive rebounding rate, although that figure is plumped by their efforts against lower-level opponents early on their schedule. The absence of Freeman means the rest of the Orange front line will have to take care of the defensive glass.

The UT defense is a tough one, although not a high-pressure unit

On the defensive end, Tennessee does a good job defending inside the arc, holding opponents to just 43.1 percent on 2-point shots, good for 17th in the country. That has been an area where SU has had success this season, shooting 57.4 percent inside the arc.

While the Volunteers have defended the 3-point line well, both Houston and Tennessee had success against them. Both squads shot 37.5 percent or better from long range against UT, but Syracuse has struggled to find their range against high-level opponents, shooting just 25.8 percent from beyond the arc in Las Vegas.

The Volunteers will provide a different defensive look from a pair of Orange opponents in Vegas, as they are not a high-pressure defense that forces a ton of turnovers. In fact, UT is a little above average when it comes to forcing miscues, so the SU offense should have an easier time getting set up in the frontcourt.

The big question is how the Orange attack this game

One of the bigger challenges facing Syracuse in this game is the ability to bounce back from their disappointing trip. However, this is an opportunity for simple motivation for head coach Adrian Autry. The Orange need this game for their postseason dreams. Pulling off an upset would go a long way toward pushing SU toward that goal, including rewarding them for their efforts against the toughest part of their early schedule.

The challenge is great, particularly for this shorthanded Orange team, but the loss of Freeman is still too much for them to overcome against a team that handles a lot of their business in the paint.

Tennessee 73, Syracuse 66.

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