CHICAGO – When Syracuse plays Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 on Friday, the Orange will face a frontcourt duo of Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis that blends one of the best shooting big men in the country with one of the best low-post players in the nation.

The 6-foot-10 Wiltjer, who won a national title with Kentucky in 2012, averages over 20 points and six rebounds per game while shooting 49 percent from the field and over 43 percent from behind the arc. Sabonis averages over 17 points and 11 rebounds per game while shooting a staggering 60.9 percent from the field.

“They’re really versatile,” SU freshman Tyler Lydon said. “They complement each other’s games very well.”

At times this season, Syracuse’s frontcourt has been stretched out by bigs who can shoot from the foul-line extended area. Others, it’s been exposed by dominant rebounders who have their way on the glass. The Bulldogs present both, and the recent success of SU’s frontcourt – Lydon, Tyler Roberson and Dajuan Coleman contributed significantly against Middle Tennessee State – will be tested when the 10th-seeded Orange tips off against the No. 11 seed Bulldogs around 9:40 p.m. EST at the United Center on Friday.

“They’re both really good players and they’re both threats to score on the offensive end,” Roberson said. “But we’ve been going over everything we need to do to stop them and I think if we execute that and compete on defense, I think we’ll be fine. It’ll definitely be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it tomorrow.”

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During the beginning of Gonzaga’s open practice, Wiltjer and Sabonis both canned 3s from the top of the key. Then Sabonis showed off his array of post moves and ability to hit from midrange while Wiltjer continued to knock down shots from behind the arc, this time from the corner.

Roberson has dominated the glass in Syracuse’s first two NCAA Tournament games with 27 total rebounds. Sabonis has only grabbed one fewer in his first two games, and statistically poses the biggest challenge on the boards Syracuse has opposed all season. Wiltjer has the ability to sift through the crevices of the zone and find space at the foul line, elbow or short corner in addition to stepping out behind the arc.

“Doesn’t matter what defense you’re playing, he’s a tremendous player and he can hurt you inside, outside and any number of ways,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said of Wiltjer. “He’s big, he can shoot, he can pass, he’s mobile. He’s as good as anybody 6-foot-8 in the country because he can go outside and hurt you and he can go inside and hurt you.”

When Wiltjer was asked how Gonzaga plans to take advantage of Syracuse’s perceived weakness, its frontcourt, he highlighted finding the seams in the zone. Wiltjer also emphasized posting up despite not being guarded by a single man and Gonzaga head coach Mark Few was forthcoming in saying his team won’t stray from its standard inside-out offense.

Even with the ideal weapons to crack the code to the zone, Few estimated that his team has played less than 30 possessions against the defense this year. He attributed that to teams being wary of Wiltjer’s capabilities across the court so opponents don’t want to allow him to find the cracks.

“It’s going to be interesting to play it for 40 minutes because you just don’t create or have that same kind of rhythm you have a lot of times with your man offense,” Few said.

And while the foreign looks Syracuse will give the Bulldogs could throw them for a loop, Gonzaga has the pieces at its disposal to counter that.

“From a guard standpoint we want to try and keep the ball out of the high post. From a big man standpoint, it’s being physical,” Michael Gbinije said. “If we can push them off their spots a little bit get them further away from the basket, it could benefit us.”

Published on March 24, 2016 at 6:23 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman