Drexel Dragons Preview

Syracuse will play its final game of its non-conference schedule when the Orange hosts Drexel on Wednesday night.

The No. 5 Orange (12-0) is coming off of a 97-55 win over Morgan State. Thirteen different players scored, as SU finally enjoyed a good shooting night from downtown, going 12-for-25 from long distance.

Sophomore James Southerland, who has seen his playing time go up over the past few games due to injured freshman C.J. Fair, led with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Over his past three games, he is averaging 10.6 points.

“He struggled early, which happens, but he is getting more confident,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “It just takes time.”

Boeheim will lead his group against Drexel, who two games ago, knocked off Louisville with a 52-46 win. After the Dragons defeated St. Francis (New York), they received six votes in The Associated Press Top 25 national poll. It is only the third season that the Dragons have received votes in the AP poll.

Syracuse and Drexel have met three times in the past, with the Orange winning two of the games. The Orange knocked off the Dragons with a 69-58 win in the NCAA Tournament in the 1995-96 season. In 2003-04, the Orange won, 74-54.

The last time the teams met, Drexel upset Syracuse in a 84-79 victory in 2006-07.

“You don’t overlook a team like this,” forward Rick Jackson said. “Especially going into break you want to finish on a good note.”

Wesley Cheng is the Editor-in-Chief of The Juice Online.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.