Connecticut at Syracuse

The red-hot Huskies go to the Carrier Dome with their first national ranking of the season, having rattled off five straight impressive wins. The Cuse has been a bit under the radar of late as well, as they have won three straight and two on the road, and lost to Georgetown on the road by 2 in OT. The Huskies blueprint for success is guards that can dribble penetrate, pull up and knock down the 10-15 footer, or dish to Adrien or Thabeet for an easy dunk as if help arrives. There is one situation that presents itself over and over for the Huskies, and that is against a zone. The zone takes away their strength, as the dribble penetration is taken away and their half-court offense is not good at all. The last team to throw a zone at Connecticut was Providence. The Huskies were down 20 in the 2nd half. They shot 22-60 (36.7%) and they are not a good 3-point shooting team, hitting 4-19. Last year, Providence did the same thing and forced UCONN to beat them from deep, and the result was the same: 26-68 for 38.2% and 8-26 from three. The Huskies beat Syracuse last year at home. They shot just 20-56 35.7% and connected on just 8-23 from deep. They won because a thin Syracuse team was laden with foul trouble, with two players playing with four and two others fouling out. They went to the Dome, and the same old story, UCONN shot 21-65 32.3% and 7-21 from three. They met again in the Big east Tournament, and the same old story. Connecticut shoots 26-75 34.6% and 4-19 from three. The zone lures the Huskies into a game they can't win. The open threes are always there, and it takes UCONN out of what they do best, and into what they do worst. These are five games vs the zone, and UCONN has shot 115-324 35.5%! They have been even worse from deep, connecting on 31-108 or 28.7%! The proof is right there. Uconn has shot 52 three's in their recent six game winning streak, with no game shooting more than 14! The Huskies vs the zones of Providence and Syracuse has them averaging 22.3 attempts from 3 per game. That is more than twice as many as they take when playing their game. The Huskies last four losses have shown them taking 20 three's per loss. Again forcing them to shoot outside, and their chances of winning diminish greatly! The Huskies are 218th nationally in shooting 3's and vs the zone, with this group of players the Huskies would rank near the bottom! Syracuse shoots nearly 50% and will get points. UCONN's defense is a bit misleading, as they allow just 37.7% from the field, but an equal percentage from three. Why? The Huskies block 10 shots per game. That means a team that shoots 23-60 is shooting 23-50 46% when the shot is not blocked! Connecticut has allowed five players this season to score career highs! That isn't a great defensive team, no matter what the numbers say. Syracuse wins going away.