Syracuse (21-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) will travel to Chicago on Friday to play Gonzaga (28-7, 15-3 West Coast) in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16. The No. 10 seed Orange won two games in St. Louis this past weekend, upsetting No. 7 seed Dayton before taking care of business against the Cinderella story in 15th-seeded Middle Tennessee State. The No. 11 seed Bulldogs upset sixth-seeded Seton Hall and No. 3 seed Utah to advance.

Syracuse hasn’t been to the Sweet 16 since 2013, when it went all the way to the Final Four. Gonzaga has made the Tournament in 18 straight seasons, but is one of only two non-power conference team remaining in the Tournament.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Bulldogs.

All-Time Series: 1-0 in the Orange’s favor.

Last time they played: On March 21, 2010, Syracuse blew out Gonzaga, 87-65, in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. It was the only matchup between the two teams. At the time the Orange placed as a No. 1 seed in the Tournament. Wesley Johnson scored a career-high 31 points in the game played in Buffalo. The 12 3-pointers that SU hit was the most in the program’s NCAA Tournament history. Conversely, Gonzaga made just 3-of-21 from behind the arc.

Syracuse went on to be upset by Butler in the Sweet 16. That was the year when Butler made the Tournament final for the first time.

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MORE COVERAGE:

• The Daily Orange beat writers preview Syracuse-Gonzaga in Sweet 16
• Ten fun facts about Gonazaga
• Syracuse-Gonzaga game time set for 9:40 p.m. on Friday

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The Gonzaga report: Gonzaga is also the eighth tallest team in the country, per Kenpom.com. It is likely due to the experienced big men Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis on the roster, both of whom are at least 6-foot-10. Another big man Przemek Karnowski (7-foot-1) was injured five games into the season. He was arguably the team’s best player.

The Bulldogs didn’t do much wrong this year. Its’ worst loss came at home to UCLA. It also lost to St. Mary’s twice, before defeating it in the WCC championship game. They didn’t collect many good wins, though, until the NCAA Tournament. A win over Connecticut in the Battle 4 Atlantis was the best regular season win. Sabonis, though, is one of the best at his position, averaging more than 11 rebounds per game. Syracuse will have a tough time going up the Bulldogs’ their size.

 

Logan Reidsma | Senior Staff Photographer

 

How Syracuse beats Gonzaga: The Orange needs to find a way to keep the ball out of the high post so Wiltjer and Sabonis can’t find too many scoring opportunities. They will get their points and they will get their rebounds, and because of that the Orange will need to do other things right. That involves making 3s and limiting the Bulldogs on the offensive glass. Unfortunately for the Orange, GU also limits 3-point shooting really well, and shoots it at a high percentage from the outside. Syracuse has the advantage of having played tough teams that are good at rebounding this season and finding a way to hang in there. But unlike North Carolina, GU is dangerous with 3s. So this isn’t an ideal matchup for SU, but there are few that are for the Orange.

Stat to know: Both Gonzaga and Syracuse play very tight rotations. The Bulldogs only use their bench 22.9 percent of the time, which is 338th in Division I. Syracuse uses its bench 16.2 percent of the time, good for 350th in Division I. Having six or seven players has seemed to hurt SU this season a bit, but the Orange will be on a level playing field in that area come Friday.

Player to watch: Sabonis is a monster on the glass, and it will be interesting to see if Syracuse can find a way to at least neutralize that ability. He’s had 14 games this season where he had 10 or more rebounds on the defensive glass alone. There’s no way to know which Tyler Roberson shows up to battle with him on the boards, but if it’s not the “plugged-in” one, then Sabonis will likely be able to bully the Orange and make it a lot harder for it to win.

Published on March 22, 2016 at 6:24 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3