I watched the condensed game and got a similar impression to you
Syracuse can win the game with defense, if they play great defensively...to stop houston, Cenac and flemings are the keys. stop/limit those 2 and I predict an SU win. easier said than done, though, obviously.
i really like the idea of freeman vs cenac...this is a great chance for donnie to make a splash nationally .SU recruited Cenac and this offseason I saw his tape and he was the one recruit I really wanted. he was an absolute beast vs Auburn. wow. but he is just a freshman and cannot play perfectly every game. im not uber confident freeman can outperform cenac but it is possible. IF freeman can play better than cenac, SU will win, imo. but maybe Kyle or even white will guard him or maybe even suare...but he is key...OTOH donnie has to stay in it mentally if the early part of the game goes cenacs way...
and the guard flemings is so good too...but
i think white has to play big minutes and I think he can cover him.
overall, the houston auburn game was crazy athletic but also very high level and intelligent ball from the highlights. it will be a tall task for the orange, no doubt.
I think SU has a deeper team in terms of offensive weapons, which will be the case all year and is a big advantage...I think they can throw more at houston in terms of different options. If they find an option that is cooking...need to keep feeding it. and same with the D. red really needs to win the chess match...and imo he has more pieces than sampson. sampson has great pieces, dont get me wrong, but this SU team is deep. esp with JJ back, which i expect will be the case.
im also very curious to see how kiyan reacts. if he can do what hes been doing vs this level of defense, watch out! im 50/50 on that...I think he will do well...but it could go either way.