Tonight at 7:15 p.m. ET the No. 4-ranked Syracuse Orange (7-0) will host the Indiana Hoosiers (6-1), a national power who has dropped significantly from its position of power last year after studs Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller left for NBA riches. ESPN has the game, which can also be live streamed here for free. Hoosiers fans can listen to the game on 97.1 Hank FM, while Orange fans can tune in to the radio broadcast on The Score 1260.
The Orange, which eliminated Indiana from last year's NCAA Tournament, and are fresh off a dominating performance in the Maui Invitational. They knocked off No. 18 Baylor in the final, and C.J. Fair topped the team in scoring with 24 points.
"We are figuring out how to make plays. Three nights in a row against good teams -- this was a really good tournament for us," coach Jim Boeheim said.
Indiana coach Tom Crean is hoping to bog down Syracuse's offense in a low-scoring affair tonight, with much of his firepower from a season ago departed.
"I think as far as Syracuse goes, the things that are always going to remain constant with them are their athleticism, their length, they get a lot of steals and blocked shots ..." Crean said. "Offensively they are doing a great job of getting the ball into the paint and they are getting to the foul line. They have very good players at every position and it seems like they know what they are trying to get out of every position."
Defensively for Syracuse, they won't have any single player to focus on as the Hoosiers have five players averaging double-figure scoring. Then again, the Orange rarely focus on any specific player, preferring to let their vaunted zone D take care of opponents.
"Turnovers and some of the mental errors were some of the worst things the first time we played them," Crean said.
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