Gus Weinstein, Casey Platenik and Jake Socia
Staff Writers
Syracuse University Men’s Basketball started off their season with a 25-0 record, eclipsing their previous record of 21 straight wins. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. They narrowly escaped a couple games down the stretch, with a 91-89 overtime win over Duke, and a tight match against Pittsburgh, in which Tyler Ennis threw up a last-second half court heave, allowing them to come up victorious. Syracuse’s first loss was to Boston College, who only had two wins in the Atlantic Coast Conference. This started the downfall for SU, leading them to losing four out of their next five regular season games. Yet the staff and students at Jamesville-DeWitt High School stay positive. “They slipped up a few times, but you got to give them credit for that start,” said sophomore Pat Gilson; “it set a new school record.”
Syracuse is entering the ACC tournament as the No. 2 seed and on Friday, March 14, will play the winner of the North Carolina State vs. Miami game, which happens the day before. Despite going four for five to end the regular season, Gilsson believes Syracuse will still be able to beat Duke in a rematch to make it to the finals.Freshman Thomas Edson agrees with Gilson, but goes further; “doing well in the ACC tournament will lead Syracuse to future victories in the NCAA tournament.” Some are less optimistic. “I think SU will make it to the semifinals of the ACC tournament but lose to Duke.” said Kyle Hurley, freshman, who disagrees with Gilsson.
After starting 25-0, Syracuse was looking for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. But after losing four of five games in the middle of the season, Syracuse dropped to a season-worst 11 in the AP poll. “I believe that SU started off hot, but they had to come back to earth at some point,” said senior Maki Mandelis; “The losses will help them in the long run.” Joe Lunardi, ESPN professional bracketologist, projects SU to be a No. 3 seed as of right now. “I think right now they are a three seed,” said sophomore Jack Brotzki; “If they can get a couple wins in the ACC tournament, they can move up to a two seed.”