South Florida Preview

The last time Syracuse and South Florida met, they played a very up tempo game. Syracuse was able to turn many transition opportunities into easy scores. They recorded a 114.6 offensive rating, their third best performance in Big East play. South Florida had one of their best games in the Big East offensively also against a Syracuse team that was just beginning to come into their own defensively. The 99 rating South Florida put up was their fourth best output in conference play.

South Florida plays slower than average at a pace off 66 possessions a game which is around what Syracuse has been playing at in Big East play. The Bulls don't excel at any one part of the game, and overall they generally bad at almost every aspect of the game. South Florida doesn't rebound very well, especially defensively. On the offensive glass they will get their fair share of boards thanks to center Kentrell Gransberry.

Gransberry leads a very undersized lineup. KG is just 6'9'' and is typically undersized against most Big East centers, but he is still in the top five in the league in rebounding. Of the six players that receive the most playing time for coach Stan Heath, only two of them are taller than 6'4''. If Syracuse sticks with their big lineup of Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Kristof!, Donte' Greene, and Arinze Onuaku, four players from Syracuse will be taller than the Bulls' third tallest player.

Syracuse needs to rebound out of the zone well. If they can do this and hit the offensive boards hard, they should really be able to control the game. Syracuse is 18th in the county in offensive rebounding, while South Florida is 200th in defensive rebounding. The Orange will limit South Florida possessions while gaining more looks at the basket for themselves.

South Florida's size is also evident in blocks. They have one out of every eight two-point shots blocked, an extremely high rate. Syracuse is very solid at blocking shots, so seven or more blocks is definitely possible in this game for the Orange. Blocks lead to extra transition opportunities which means easier points for the Orange. We saw this against UCONN, the many Hasheem Thabeet blocks led to numerous easy baskets for the Huskies. SU hasn't been able to get out into transition as much lately, minus the Villanova game which is one of various reasons why the Orange have struggled to put up points recently.

South Florida features several young guards. Dominique Jones is one of the best freshman guards in the country you've never heard of. If he was on a better team in the Big East, he would be getting serious contention for Big East Rookie of the Year. Sophomore Chris Howard has also been solid for the Bulls in the back court. South Florida's guards are definitely the strength of this team.

South Florida will chuck up a lot of threes with little success. They shoot about 16 a game and hit just 5.5. Not a single USF Bull shoots better than 40% from three as they have seven players who shoot between 30 and 40%. Six of those players will take at least one three-pointer a game.

USF has a solid assist to turnover ratio, partly due to their strong guard play. They average 15 assists to 13.5 turnovers which is a very low amount for a team that's won only one Big East game.

Overall, the Orange should be able to take this game. South Florida hasn't had a pulse in Big East play as they've lost ten in a row since winning their opening at home against Rutgers. USF will probably play them tough for awhile, but probably fade down the stretch as they did last year in the Sun Dome.

CuseAdelphia prediction: Syracuse 78, South Florida 66.

Feel free to post your predictions.