Ten Things to Know About the Brown Bears, Syracuse Basketball's Next Opponent

Due to a last minute scheduling change, the Orange how faces the Ivy League school on Monday.

Following the postponement of games against Lehigh and Cornell, Syracuse added Brown to the schedule for Monday, December 27th. What type of team is the Orange facing in the Brown Bears? Here are 10 things to know about them. 

1. High Majors

Brown has played three major conference opponents so far this season. The Bears played at North Carolina and lost 94-87 in a game where Brown led for large portions of the game. Brown also lost to Creighton 78-57 and Colorado 54-52 in the Paradise Jam. 

2. Three Point Shooting

Brown is a decent three point shooting team at 32%. The team's best three point shooters both come off the bench. Leading scorer Kino Lilly Jr., a 6-0 freshman guard. He is making 40.0% of his shots and leads the team in made three pointers as well as three point attempts. The team leader in percentage is Kimo Ferrari at 46%. Paxson Wojcik is the best three point shooter among the starters at 35%. He is second on the team in three point attempts and makes. 

3. Fantastic Freshman

The aforementioned Kino Lilly Jr. has only started one of 13 games this season, but leads Brown in scoring at over 12 points per game. He is also second on the team in minutes played per game. Lilly Jr. leads the team in assists and steals as well. He is a three level scorer, has terrific handle, is quick off the dribble and is an aggressive defender. 

4. Size

Brown does not have a ton of size, with 6-9, 220 pound forward Jaylan Gainey as its biggest front court player. Nana Owusu-Anane stands 6-8, 220 pounds and plays about 19 minutes per game off the bench. Other than that, the rest of the rotation is 6-6 and under. Syracuse should have a size advantage in this one. 

5. Bench

The Bears primarily uses three players off the bench. Kino Lilly Jr., Nana Owusu-Anane and Kimo Ferrari all play consistently for Brown. In close games, Brown usually does not go much deeper than that for consistent minutes, though a couple of others players may get a few minutes here and there unless a game is a blowout. 

6. Ken Pom & NET

Brown is ranked 164th overall on Ken Pom with the nation's 233rd best offense and 101st best defense. Brown is ranked 134th in the NCAA's NET ranking. 

7. Turnovers

Brown has done a good job at forcing opponent's turnovers this season, to the tune of 16.5 per game. The Bears turn those into 17 points each contest. That means Brown is going to pressure Syracuse's ball handlers and look to get steals that lead to transition buckets. 

8. Blocked Shots

Despite Brown's lack of size, the Bears still average four blocks per game. That is led by Jaylan Gainey, who blocks nearly two shots per game. Gainey has 22 blocks on the season, while no one else on the roster has more than six. Syracuse will likely attack the rim anyway, but should do so even more when Gainey is on the bench. 

9. Coaching Staff

Head coach Mike Martin is a former Brown basketball player who took over the program prior to the 2012-13 season. After five losing seasons in his first six years, Martin guided the Bears to the program's first 20 win season in 2018-19. The Bears have finished fourth in the Ivy League the last two years it has played. One of Brown's assistants will be a familiar name to Syracuse fans. One TJ Sorrentine, who hit a long three pointer in overtime to. help Vermont upset Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament years ago. 

10. Time Off

Brown has not played since December 10th due to its game against Rhode Island getting cancelled as a result of COVID-19 concerns within the Rams program. As Syracuse has not played since December 11th due to its own COVID-19 outbreak, both teams could be rusty.