FSU basketball: Noles welcome Syracuse to the Tucker Center

FSU basketball (8-16, 6-7 ACC) will look for its second consecutive win when they host the Syracuse Orange (14-10, 7-6 ACC) Wednesday night in the Tucker Center.

The Noles held off ACC bottom dwellers Louisville in their last outing after opening a 15-point lead in the second half. They’ll enter the Syracuse game as +2 betting underdogs, with the over/under points total at 150. Those odds imply a 76-74 victory for the Orange.

Both teams have lost three of their last five, though FSU has played the tougher opposition in that stretch. Syracuse has three players averaging double-digits, and they shot 47 percent from the floor overall.

They only average 11 turnovers per game, shooting 73.5 from the charity stripe and 36 percent from three-point range. Defensively, they average seven steals and 5.5 blocks per game.

The Orange will play in their matchup zone under Jim Boeheim, which will likely force the Noles to live or die by hitting their three-point shots.

The last time these two teams matched up was in the ACC Tournament last year, where the Orange embarrassed the Noles with a 39-point win.

Syracuse shot 51 percent overall and made 11 three-pointers. The Noles went 2 of 25 from beyond the arc and got crushed on the boards.

FSU needs to find ways to get stops defensively and keep Syracuse off the offensive glass. They’ll also need to limit the turnovers and empty possessions.

This could be a game where Darin Green Jr. gets going from three-point land if the Noles can navigate Syracuse’s zone. All of their losses have commonalities.

They turn the ball over a lot and don’t shoot it well from the foul line. They are going to make some shots and some threes, but FSU must prevent themselves from getting in a huge early deficit like they did in the previous three losses.

The game will begin at 7 p.m. and will air on ESPNU.