UPDATED: March 14 at 2:42 p.m.

No. 1 seed Syracuse (18-14, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) hosts No. 8 seed UNC-Greensboro (25-9, 14-4 Southern) in the Carrier Dome in the National Invitation Tournament’s Round of 32 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Orange narrowly missed out on receiving an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, the postseason event in which SU expects to participate each year.

Here’s what to know about the Spartans ahead of Wednesday’s game.

All-time series: Syracuse leads, 3-0

Last time they played: Syracuse last met UNC-Greensboro on Dec. 10, 2002 with the team that eventually won the Orange’s only national championship later that season. SU’s starting lineup for the 92-65 win consisted of current assistant coach Gerry McNamara and NBA star Carmelo Anthony. Hakim Warrick, who later had the game-winning block in the title game, scored 23 points in the victory. Current Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery was UNCG’s head coach at the time.

The UNC-Greensboro report: The Spartans bring three players averaging double-digit point totals to the Dome. Shooting guard Francis Alonso leads the way with 15.2 points per game. He leads the SoCon with a 3-point field-goal percentage of 47.3. Power forward James Dickey is UNC-Greensboro’s best rebounder averaging 7.3 boards per game. His 14.1 offensive rebounding rate ranks 32nd nationally while his 24.4 defensive rebounding percentage ranks 57th in the country, per Kenpom.com. The Spartans have faced major conferences opponents this season but haven’t fared well. UNC-Greensboro lost to Virginia in it’s season opener by 25, lost to Georgetown by 22 and lost to Wake Forest by three at home. The Spartans won nine straight before losing to East Tennessee State by five in the SoCon championship.

How Syracuse beats UNC-Greensboro: Two areas the Spartans excel in are offensive rebound percentage, where UNCG collects 34.3 percent of available offensive rebounds. That ranks 33rd in the country, per Kenpom. Syracuse all season has struggled on the boards and has often lost when it’s been exposed there. The Spartans also shoot an impressive 38.7 percent from behind the arc, which ranks 34th nationally. The Orange will have to box out on the inside and close out on the perimeter to roll to a comfortable win. But if UNCG gets multiple shots per possession and makes SU pay by hitting 3-pointers, it could be a tight one in the Dome.

Stat to know: 6,632 — Number of retweets the following tweet had as of early Monday afternoon. After SU lost to Miami in the ACC tournament on Wednesday, head coach Jim Boeheim said “there’s no reason to play in Greensboro.” The ACC tournament had previously been held there but was moved to Washington D.C. last season and Brooklyn for this season and next. Syracuse has yet to win an ACC tournament game in the four years since it’s joined the conference.

Player to watch: Francis Alonso, guard, No. 10

Not only is Alonso the Spartans’ leading scorer, his offensive rating of 121.7 ranks 99th in the country and third in the Southern Conference among players who have been used on at least 20 percent of possessions, per Kenpom. Syracuse has struggled defending sharpshooters and Alonso could pose that same threat.

Published on March 13, 2017 at 12:55 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds