As a power 5 school and a mid-major, respectively, the Syracuse and Colgate men’s basketball teams don’t often have much in common beyond geography.
But both squads will be looking for similar all-around improvement Tuesday night when Syracuse hosts Colgate in a battle of upstate New York rivals.
Syracuse hasn’t played since its season opener Nov. 4, when the Orange overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to edge visiting LeMoyne 86-82. Colgate last played Saturday, when the Raiders never led in a 73-56 loss to host Drexel.
Syracuse, which was picked to finish 11th in the 18-team Atlantic Coast Conference under second-year head coach Adrian Autry, fended off Le Moyne’s upset bid despite shooting just 43.1 percent (31 of 72) from the field, including 18.2 percent (4 of 22) from 3-point land.
The performance from the field was the worst for Syracuse since Feb. 17, when the Orange shot 36.7 percent (22 of 60) overall and 16 percent (4 of 25) from beyond the arc in a 65-60 loss to Georgia Tech.
Le Moyne shot 49.1 percent overall (28 of 57) against the Orange, including 36 percent (9 of 25) from beyond the arc.
“We’re going to focus on everything — we’ve got a long way to go,” Autry said. “We’re just a work in progress still. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Colgate (1-1), which has won four straight Patriot League titles and was picked to finish first in the 10-team conference under 14th-year head coach Matt Langel, endured even deeper struggles on both ends of the floor against Drexel.
The Raiders shot 33 percent (20 of 60) from the field, including 16 percent (4 of 25) from beyond the arc. Drexel drained 42.9 percent of its attempts (24 of 56) and finished 43.3 percent (13 of 30) from 3-point land.
“It’s easy to say that they beat us at the 3-point line, but there was more to it than that,” Langel said. “Overall, they were tougher than we were and more ready to win the game today. And that responsibility falls on the coach.”
This will be the 176th all-time meeting between the schools, who are located about an hour apart. Syracuse leads the series 128-47, though the Orange stopped a two-game losing streak against Colgate with a 79-75 win on Nov. 14, 2023.
