Syracuse Basketball: What Orange Must Do to Be Ready for Michigan Showdown

The last time we saw the Syracuse Orange on the national stage, they fell to Cal by 14 points at the 2K Classic in New York. 

On December 2, the Orange will light up the marquee once again when they visit Ann Arbor to face No. 19 Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. 

Since the humbling loss to the Golden Bears at Madison Square Garden, Syracuse has pulled off two solid wins over Iowa and Loyola (MD). To be fair, neither of these teams are comparable to the talent on the rosters of Cal and Michigan. But it is nice to see Jim Boeheim's side respond well to an early defeat. 

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One game remains on the schedule for the Orange against Holy Cross Friday before the focus can be fully shifted to the showdown at Crisler Center. With Michigan on the horizon, the Orange do need to improve on a few more things before they can claim they are ready for Tuesday's road trip. 

If you look directly at the box scores of the past three games, only three players in each game have found their way into double digits. In the last two games, Chris McCullough, Rakeem Christmas and Trevor Cooney have been the only players to score over 10 points. 

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While having three consistent scorers is a nice thing, it is also valuable for a team to have a plethora of different contributors. Michael Gbinije and Kaleb Joseph did score 13 and 12, respectively, against Cal, but neither player has reached 10 points since. 

What that says to Michigan is it can focus on shutting down one of the three key players on the defensive side of the ball. If they are successful in taking McCullough, Christmas or Cooney out of the game, the Wolverines could be on their way to a blowout victory. 

One way to keep some of the big guns in the game is to throw up some early shots from beyond the arc. When he gets hot from three-point range, Cooney can turn into the best shooter on the court. 

In five games this season, he is 9-of-29 from three-point range. Six of those triples have come in the past three games. With Cooney beginning to find his shot from downtown this season, the Orange could hold the upper hand in the backcourt against Michigan. 

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If Cooney continues to shoot well from beyond the arc, it will open up the offensive game plan for Syracuse. With more attention on the star guard, the players in the paint will not see double-teams as much, which could lead to a scoring outbreak in the frontcourt led by Christmas. 

One department in which Syracuse will not have an advantage against the Wolverines is depth. Boeheim will use seven players for most games, although an eighth could get involved depending on certain situations. 

On a good night, the Wolverines can go 10 deep, which is something that should concern Syracuse a bit. If one of the Orange starters gets into foul trouble early, they may not have a solution off the bench to replace a player like McCullough or Christmas. 

To prevent that from happening, Syracuse must work on attacking the basket early and often to force the Michigan big men into foul trouble. The main man to pressure will be freshman Mark Donnal, who earned two fouls in the first half against Villanova in the Legends Classic final. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Syracuse must continue to dominate down low like it did against Loyola (MD). In the 70-37 win over the Greyhounds, the Orange frontcourt held Loyola's starting big men to zero points and three field-goal attempts. 

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It will be nearly impossible to shut out another team in the paint this season. But if the Orange can hold a team's starting frontcourt duo to less than 10 points on any given night, they will be in great shape. Syracuse has a real chance of doing that against Holy Cross at the Carrier Dome Friday. 

The other factor that can play to Syracuse's advantage is its zone defense. As we have seen on countless occasions in the past, Boeheim's zone can frustrate an opposing backcourt for the entire 40 minutes. If the zone is as effective as it could be over the next two games, Syracuse could leave Crisler Center with a big nonconference win. 

Taking down a dangerous Michigan team will not be an easy task, but the Orange have the talent and game plan to shut down the Wolverines for long stretches of the game. If everything comes together perfectly, Syracuse will be high on confidence heading into its other game against a ranked opponent outside of the ACC December 20 at Villanova. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. 

All statistics obtained from ESPN.com.