Opponent Preview: What to know about Oakland in its 2nd-ever matchup with Syracuse

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Syracuse finally showed its best basketball in its win over Notre Dame — Jesse Edwards and Joe Girard III produced most of SU’s offense, combining for 42 points, while the defense improved on guarding the deep ball in the second half. The Orange won a back-and-forth battle 62-61, getting back to .500 on the year.

The Orange will return to the JMA Wireless Dome for the next six games, starting with the University of Oakland on Tuesday. The only teams the Grizzlies beat this season was Eastern Michigan, who’s not even in Ken Pom’s top-300 rankings, and Defiance College.

Here’s everything to know about Oakland (2-8, 0-2 Horizon) before the matchup:

All-time series

Syracuse leads 1-0.

Last time they played

Syracuse coasted to a 74-62 win on Dec. 18, 2019, only struggling for the game’s first three minutes, notching just one point. After Girard scored from deep with 16 minutes left in the half, SU didn’t lose its lead for the rest of the night. The Orange won the turnover battle, committing just seven compared to Oakland’s 16, leading to 15 points for SU.

The Grizzlies kept it close in the first half, but Buddy Boeheim went on to score 11-straight points to increase the Orange’s advantage. At the start of the second half, Elijah Hughes, who finished with a team-high 23 points, and Buddy nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Orange their biggest lead of the night.

“We haven’t been in too many close games like this,” head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame. “We made some good plays down the stretch, but we made some plays that we can’t make.”

The win over the Grizzlies kickstarted a three-game winning streak, which ended after a one-point loss to Notre Dame at home.

The Grizzlies report

The Grizzlies had a strong 2021-22 campaign, highlighted by a six-game winning streak and a victory over Oklahoma State early in the year. Jamal Cain led Oakland’s offense by averaging 19.9 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game. Cain was named the 2021-22 Horizon League Co-Player of the Year, but he graduated at the end of last year.

Oakland’s third-leading scorer from 2021-22, Trey Townsend, has taken over the majority of the offensive load, averaging 16.1 points per game. The Grizzlies have three other players averaging double-digit points: Keaton Hervey (14.4), Jalen Moore (12.8) and Blake Lampman (12.0).

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The Grizzlies have one of the lowest turnover rates in the country at 15.3%, per Ken Pom, which means Syracuse will have to deal with long possessions, like it did against Notre Dame and Richmond. But on the defensive end, Oakland is one of the worst teams in college basketball, allowing a 56.9% efficient field goal percentage. It’s worse than SU at guarding the deep ball, which says a lot.

How Syracuse beats Oakland

Syracuse simply needs to score the basketball from all around on the court. The Grizzlies allow 53% of their opponents shots from inside the arc to fall while giving up an average of 34.9% from deep in a given game.

Against the Fighting Irish, Boeheim got the ball to Edwards inside a lot more, getting the ball off pick-and-rolls while letting him post up as well. If Edwards can work through the double team, which will likely start much earlier than it did in South Bend, he should be unstoppable inside. If Edwards can’t get going, a simple kick-out to the wing or corner for a 3 should help SU avoid an empty possession.

Judah Mintz had a little bit of an off-night at Notre Dame, though he made the shot that mattered most. Expect him to bounce back from three games of scoring under 10 points against an unmatched defense. John Bol Ajak could get some more time too depending on Mounir Hima’s status. Bol Ajak finished with a team-high four assists versus the Fighting Irish, and will be crucial against Oakland, especially if Edwards gets into foul trouble.

Stat to know: 75”

The Grizzlies have an average height of just over 6-foot-2, which makes them one of the 15-shortest teams in the NCAA, per KenPom. The only player on Syracuse’s roster with meaningful playing time who’s shorter than 6-foot-2 is Girard, who’s 6-foot-1.

This means Edwards, Bol Ajak, Mintz, Benny Williams and whoever else attacks inside for the Orange should have no issue getting second-chance points. Boeheim said the other forwards need to help Edwards on the glass — you have to rebound in college basketball — and this is the perfect game to do that.

Player to watch: Trey Townsend, forward, No. 4

Townsend can heat up for Oakland, scoring 30 points on 6-of-7 shooting from deep against Toledo. He had 10 rebounds in that game as well, but Townsend hasn’t attempted more than four 3-pointers in a game since. As long as Syracuse’s zone doesn’t let Townsend get to his spots from deep, and allow Edwards to use his height advantage inside, Townsend shouldn’t be an issue.