Opponent Preview: What to know about Colgate

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Jim Boeheim will have an opportunity to clinch his 1000th official win on Tuesday night against Colgate, a team that handed the Orange their first loss last season. Colgate heads into the game with back-to-back wins over Wells and Brown, losing to Buffalo by one-point in its season-opener.

Syracuse comes into Tuesday off an eight-day break, defeating Lehigh 90-72 last Monday. Judah Mintz, Jesse Edwards and Joe Girard III all finished with over 15 points, and the Orange won the rebounding battle 39-26.

“It’s early, there’s a long way to go. We got a lot of work ahead of us,” Boeheim said about the win. “This was a much better overall outing than the first two exhibition games. So, try to build on this.”

Here’s everything to know about Colgate before Tuesday’s matchup:

All-time series

Syracuse leads 127-46.

Last time they played

Colgate defeated Syracuse for the first time since 1962 last season, defeating the Orange 100-85. SU took a 17-point lead seven minutes into the game as the Raiders started 0-for-12 from beyond the arc. But Colgate found its stride from deep, scoring 33 points from 3 in around 17 minutes.

“They started out the game missing, and I think we thought that it was our defense — it wasn’t our defense,” Boeheim said. “They were missing open shots. As the game progressed, they’re going to make those shots, and we have got to be able to defend better.”

Buddy Boeheim finished with 19 points and Girard finished with 27 points, but Syracuse’s defense and lack of rebounding led to the loss. Buddy called the game “a punch in the face.”

The Raiders report

Colgate enters this year’s matchup without its two leading scorers from last year’s win. Jack Ferguson, who finished with 25 points, graduated. Nelly Cummins, who recorded 18, transferred to Pittsburgh. The Raiders are currently led by Tucker Richardson’s 18.7 points per game. He finished with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, against SU last season.

The Raiders aren’t as much of a deep shooting team this season, averaging eight threes per game — they made 18 versus Syracuse in 2021. But they’re eighth in the country with a 67.1% 2-point percentage this season, according to KenPom.

Syracuse, using either the 2-3 zone or man-to-man defense, will have to hone in on guarding the holes that the zone leaves in the midrange and put as much pressure as possible on Richardson, who also leads the team in assists.

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How Syracuse beats Colgate

In order to not have a repeat of last season, Syracuse will need to win the rebounding battle like it did against Lehigh. Colgate will throw Keegan Records and Jeff Woodward, who are 6-foot-10 and 6-foot-11 respectively, at Edwards. Records and Woodward have basically split the time at center for the Raiders, playing 77.5% and 46.2% of minutes, respectively, according to KenPom.

Edwards and Benny Williams had some issues in the Orange’s exhibition games, Boeheim said, but those issues seemed somewhat resolved against Lehigh. Symir Torrence also helped on the boards with six in the game.

Mintz and Girard will be key on both sides of the floor. Mintz has shown his ability to create on his own like Girard, helping Syracuse become the 30th-best offense nationally in terms of adjusted efficiency, according to KenPom. But this was only through one game, and the Orange will have to continue to utilize their weapons in Mintz, Girard and Edwards to their advantage.

Stat to know: 17.6 %

Another statistic which works into Syracuse’s favor is Colgate’s lack of success on the offensive glass through three games this year. Colgate has a 17.6% offensive rebounding rate this year, putting them in the bottom 50 nationally, according to KenPom.

Records and Malcolm Bailey lead Colgate on the offensive glass with a combined 13 rebounds in three games. Edwards had nine defensive rebounds on his own against Lehigh, so he shouldn’t have any issues against the duo.

Player to watch: Tucker Richardson, guard, No. 5

Richardson scored a season-high 22 points in Colgate’s opener against Buffalo, almost matching his career-high of 24, which he set against Holy Cross in February. He earned All-Patriot League First Team honors last year, leading the Raiders in defensive rebounds (178) and steals (47).