The Syracuse University men's basketball team returns home on Saturday night against Notre Dame looking to snap a four-game Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) losing streak. 

SU has dropped consecutive games against Boston College, Virginia Tech, Miami and North Carolina State, the latter of which came by 20 on Tuesday night. The Irish enter play at 11-10 overall and 2-6 in the league. The Orange play two ranked teams in a row after this, so they'd be well-served to get a win on Saturday. The question is, how do they do it?

It would be nice if JJ Starling and Donnie Freeman both scored 15 or more. It would be really nice if the Orange shot well from three-point range, and it would be ideal if SU got solid bench contributions from at least one of Kiyan Anthony, Tyler Betsey and Sadiq White Jr.

But you know what Syracuse really has to do, above all else? Get back to basics defensively.

I'm well aware that Binghamton, Delaware Valley and Drexel don't play in the ACC, so things are going to look different now than they did in November, but where did the great SU defense go?

Early in the season, Syracuse was overwhelming teams with their length, athleticism and hustle. Even in a November loss against No. 3 Houston, Syracuse was all over the court. Where did that effort and intensity go? Because it hasn't been present for a while.

Syracuse has allowed 80 points or more in each of its last five games. 

Maybe they don't even have to look like they did against Delaware Valley State or Binghamton, I'd settle for how they looked early in conference play when they allowed 72 points or less to Clemson, Georgia Tech and Pitt. 

For whatever reason, Syracuse has struggled in the half-court offense all season. They just don't move the ball particularly well and they don't shoot well enough to play true isolation ball. Playing better defense would help the offense. If SU can force more turnovers, they can get out in transition. If they can force more missed shots, they can get out and run. Allowing 80 points a game lets other teams defenses to get set far too easily, forcing Autry's team to play in the half-court more than it wants to.

Saturday's game tips off at 6 p.m. ET and will air on the CW. The program will honor the life of Lawrence Moten before the contest as well. He's the all-time leading scorer for Syracuse and he passed away before the start of the campaign. 

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