Syracuse Men’s Basketball Dominates Delaware State 83-43

Della Piana: In the 33 games last year, the most blocks Syracuse men’s basketball had in a single contest was six. Well, it took just two games into this season for SU to double that mark. Syracuse swatted away Delaware State 83-43 on Saturday, thanks to 12 rejections. Head coach Adrian Autry knows defending the rim for his team is all about mentality.

Autry: They’re going to get into the paint, right? But we can’t give up. We got to challenge, right? We got to be disruptive. We got to contest. We got to fight, right? That’s what we have to do.

Kyle: I know that’s what a coach expects from me is to be elite around the rim and be able to block those shots. So, I definitely take a lot of pride in that.

Freeman: Our theme for the season is we want to be disruptive. So, we’re trying to alter shots, challenge shots, and just kind of make it anytime a team breaks the paint, we just want to make it as hard for them to score as possible.

Waterman: They contest every shot. They’re athletic. They close out hard to the ball, even in the backcourt they make you handle it and you’re well into the shot clock by the time you get over the half court line and so that makes it tough on your offense. So I thought they were really really good defensively today.

Della Piana: That was part of an overall defensive effort where the Orange held the Hornets to just 14 made field goals. Syracuse strives to cause more chaos at the rim next Saturday against Drexel in the Autumn Invitational. The Orange and the Dragons meet for just the fifth time this century. Tip off for that one set for 3:30. Reporting from inside the JMA

Wireless Dome, Andrew Della Piana, Citrus TV.