NEW YORK — For the second time in three years, No. 3 seed Boeheim’s Army will play in the Elite Eight of The Basketball Tournament. Three wins away from the $2 million grand prize, the Syracuse alumni could position themselves in the Final Four in Baltimore with a victory Sunday at Long Island University-Brooklyn.

The Daily Orange will have coverage of the matchup between Boeheim’s Army and Team FOE, a group of former college basketball players ranging from the Midwest to Philadelphia, including a few former Kansas Jayhawk role players. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 at 2 p.m.

Here’s what you should know before Sunday’s bout.

A matter of time

Earlier this week, Eric Devendorf, who scored a game-high 19 points Thursday, said Brandon Triche had impressed him most of any teammate. That was before Triche, who helped lead SU to the 2013 Elite Eight, hit a game-winning 3-pointer Thursday night. The 6-foot-4 guard drilled a corner 3 to give Boeheim’s Army a lead with under a minute left, and he sunk four free throws to seal the game.

Despite injuring his finger early in the contest, Triche scored seven points to seal the BA victory. In 24 minutes on the floor, he went 3-of-9 from the field, grabbed five rebounds and added three steals.

Last year, Triche was coming off an ACL injury when The Basketball Tournament kicked off, limiting his mobility. The 26-year-old most recently played professionally in Israel, and he showed Thursday the skills that made him a four-year starter at Syracuse.

“Now he’s back in the form he’s used to being in,” Devendorf said. “He played great in Philly and he’ll be even better looking forward.”

Room to improve

Boeheim’s Army got out-rebounded by one and allowed 11 offensive rebounds to Team Fancy, which boasts seven players who stand 6-foot-6 or taller. It’s an area players said they would address this week, mostly because weak rebounding allowed GaelNation to mount a 22-point comeback in Philadelphia and nearly stun Boeheim’s Army. Head coach Ryan Blackwell said Thursday after the game that for a win Sunday, rebounding will be key.

“Defense needs to be better,” Blackwell said. “Rebounding needs to be better. We need to get loose balls.”

CJ Fair and Rick Jackson, both forwards, led Boeheim’s Army with seven boards apiece. Donte Greene and Triche added five each. Otherwise, Team Fancy bigs wiggled their way into space in the Boeheim’s Army 2-3 zone to grab boards and loose balls for second and third chances.

The FOE report

No. 4 seed Team FOE has scored at least 80 points in each of its three games and is coming off of an impressive 14-point victory over No. 1 seed The Untouchables. A balanced scoring attack did the trick for FOE, whose players include 7-foot formerPenn State center Jordan Dickerson, 6-foot-8 former St. John’s forward Sean Evans, three former Kansas Jayhawks and a former Second Team All-Big East honoree at Villanova.

“They’re a heck of a team,” Devendorf said. “Super individual talent.”

Villanova alumnus Maalik Wayns led Team FOE on Thursday night, as five players scored in double figures and all 10 players scored at least once. FOE used a 27-8 second-half run to break the game open right before Boeheim’s Army took the floor.

Blackwell looked on from a courtside bench as Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson each had 11 points for FOE, whose bench outscored that of the Untouchables, 31-8. That’s the sort of strong guard play and deep lineup that will meet Boeheim’s Army Sunday afternoon. FOE went with a four-guard, one-big lineup in the second half, a lineup that propelled it to the 27-8 run and earned it a matchup with Boeheim’s Army.

“Talented, guard oriented,” Blackwell said. “They have shooters. We didn’t do a good job with our hands up on shooters. We have to run and make plays, not be so stagnant on offense. If we move the ball, we’ll be fine.”

Published on July 22, 2017 at 6:26 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21