SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Florida Southern concludes its two-game exhibition slate here Sunday afternoon by facing the Syracuse Orange in a 2 p.m. match-up at the Carrier Dome on the Syracuse campus.
Sunday's game will be the second this season for the reigning NCAA Division II National Champion Moccasins against a team from the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference as they opened exhibition play with a 112-68 setback last Friday at defending Division I National Champion Duke. It marked the seventh consecutive season that Duke had played the reigning Division II national champion from the previous year.
"We have had a very good last couple of days of preparation for Syracuse as we've been able to get into their roster and have watched film from their exhibition opener against LeMoyne," Moccasin first year head coach Mike Donnelly said. "We are a little bit further ahead than we were previously when preparing to face Duke, as we had no video to go off of. It's always hard to simulate what Syracuse does, but I know we'll be better prepared to play on Sunday."
Syracuse, who was tabbed to finish ninth in the Preseason ACC Coaches' Poll and has posted a Division I best 44 consecutive winning seasons, comes into Sunday's game fresh off a 39-point win in its exhibition opener this past Monday in the Carrier Dome against Division II foe, LeMoyne. The Orange won the game, 97-58.
In the game against LeMoyne, who is a member of the Northeast-10 Conference and located in Syracuse, the Orange led 44-34 at the half, but scored 21 unanswered points to open the second half to push its lead to 65-34. Syracuse would outscore LeMoyne, 50-24, after halftime.
One of the biggest challenges facing the Mocs in Sunday's exhibition finale is facing off against Syracuse and head coach Jim Boeheim's vaunted 2-3 zone defense.
"The 2-3 zone will present a lot of different challenges for us. We will see some zone this season from several teams in our conference, but you can't simulate Syracuse's zone with their size and their length and how well they play that zone," said Donnelly. "That is what Coach (Jim) Boeheim is known for playing that signature 2-3 zone defense."
Donnelly said that to be successful against the Syracuse zone, his team needs to push the ball and get that zone moving as quickly as possible.
"If we can push the ball up the floor in transition and get that zone moving as quickly as possible and then try and create good shots by getting into the gaps and seeing the seams. Of course, that will be a very difficult challenge because of their length, especially on the wings."
In the Mocs game against Duke last Friday, the Blue Devils jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the game's opening three minutes and led 15-2 four minutes into the game, before the Mocs rallied to pull within 28-24 with a little more than 10 minutes left in the opening half. From that point, Duke would outscore the Mocs, 36-16, to take a 64-40 lead at the half. The Mocs wouldn't get any closer than 17 points in the second half as the Blue Devils outscored the Mocs, 48-28, after halftime.
"No one likes to get beat by 44 points, it was a humbling experience, but also an overall great experience for our program being able to play Duke," stated Donnelly, who is the 23rd head coach in 89 years of Florida Southern men's basketball. "With that being said, we showed film to the guys and for long stretches in the first half, other than the rough start (getting down 15-2), I thought we settled down and for 15-16 minutes we played well and were able to score the ball. We were able to push the ball up the floor, space Duke out and play our five-motion offense and we got some good shots and we also didn't turn the ball over much. But, unfortunately, when we did turn the ball over, Duke made us pay and converted those turnovers into transition points."
The Mocs had just 12 turnovers in the game against Duke, but the Blue Devils scored 17 points off those turnovers and also went to the free throw line 30 times as they finished 23-for-30 (70 percent) at the line. FSC shot just three free throws in the game, all of which, came in the first half.
"We need to do a better job at attacking on offense and finding a way to get to the free throw line," the Mocs coach stated.
Last season, the Mocs set new single season school records for both free throws attempted (965) and free throws made (737).
One area the Mocs hope to improve upon in Sunday's exhibition finale is its play on the backboards as FSC was outrebounded 55-29 against Duke and the Blue Devils held a 22-7 edge in second chance points thanks to 17 offensive boards. The Mocs collected just seven offensive boards in the game.
"We have been working on rebounding every single day in practice since we got back from Duke. I'm hoping we'll do better on the glass against Syracuse, because we can't get outrebounded by 26 boards again," the Moccasin coach added about his team's rebounding woes against the Blue Devils. "Now, granted it was a high, high major caliber team like Duke and I get it, but we have to do a much better job, be more physical and have to react much better. We talk a lot about gang rebounding and we need to see that on Sunday. Syracuse is known to really hit the glass as they had 21 offensive boards against LeMoyne, so if we don't put a body on guys and if we don't gang up on the glass defensively, it will be another long afternoon for us."
Sunday's game with Syracuse will mark the final tune-up for the Mocs before they open the 2015-16 season next weekend in the SSC/GSC Challenge hosted by the University of West Alabama and held in Livingston, Ala.
"We are treating this game on Sunday more like a real game experience for our players. Duke, we didn't get too detailed with pregame, scouting report and things like that, we wanted the guys to enjoy the experience, but this game will be different," Donnelly said. "We're practicing really hard and really putting a strong emphasis on going to Syracuse putting forth a real good showing. Not just to take in the experience, that is great in itself, but we need to get better and hopefully that will carry us over to next weekend. I want to see the guys competing and trying hard to win the game. That's what it comes down to, not just going up there and enjoying it."
Unlike last Friday's exhibition opener at Duke that was played in the much more compact environment of Cameron Indoor Stadium, Sunday's game with Syracuse will be played in the wide-open atmosphere of the Carrier Dome, which seats 35,446 fans and the Orange averaged over 23,000 fans last season to claim the Division I attendance title for the second consecutive season.
"We knew Cameron Indoor wasn't a very big arena as it sits about 9,300, but it's a cramped 9,300, but was such a cool venue to play in, but it was tight," said the Moccasin coach. "Now this is the complete opposite on Sunday as we're going to be playing in an arena that seats well over 33,000 fans. It's very wide open."
Complicating matters in preparation for Sunday's game, the Mocs, who arrived in Syracuse about 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, will not be able to practice in the Carrier Dome prior to Sunday's game due to conflicts with high school football playoff games being played in the Carrier Dome on Saturday. The Mocs will work out late Saturday afternoon at the Carmelo Anthony Center, which is Syracuse's practice gym.
"One advantage we had at Duke was we were able to practice the day before at Cameron Indoor, but at Syracuse, we won't practice on the court at the Carrier Dome, so we won't have much time on Sunday before the game to adjust to the environment in the venue," Donnelly added. "But it is one of those things, but these guys are players and they've played in different venues across the country with AAU, so they are familiar with playing in different venues and this is no different. Our players can't get caught up in the magnitude of what the Carrier Dome is all about, they just have to focus in and take care of the game itself."
Following Sunday's game, the Mocs will open its 2015-16 regular season this coming weekend as they travel to Livingston, Ala., for the SSC/GSC Challenge. At the third annual challenge event, FSC will open against West Alabama at 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13 and then will face Delta State at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14.
"It's hard to believe the season is nearly upon us," added Donnelly, who comes to FSC after spening the past five years as the head coach at Southern Connecticut State.
