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Syracuse kicks off the rest of its conference slate at home with a matchup against longtime rival Pittsburgh. The Orange and Panthers have identical overall and conference records, both dropping their first Atlantic Coast Conference games in early December.

Though SU had its best shooting performance against a Division-I team in a win over Oregon, it struggled to finish in its previous game versus Niagara.

“I’m happy we won. I never take winning lightly,” said head coach Adrian Autry following the win. “But the word is ‘disappointed’ in how we finished the game.”

Here’s what our beat writers predict will happen when Syracuse (9-3, 0-1 ACC) faces off against Pittsburgh (9-3, 0-1 ACC) Saturday:

Cole Bambini (11-1)
Bring Pitt on
Syracuse 76, Pittsburgh 70

Over three weeks ago, Syracuse lost its conference opener on the road to Virginia by 22 points. Since then, it has rattled off four consecutive wins, including strong outings over Oregon and Georgetown. After a nine-day break and entering with momentum, I think Syracuse will edge out Pittsburgh, especially on SU’s home floor, and snap a three-game losing streak to Pitt.

The Panthers also enter with four straight wins, recently beating Purdue Fort-Wayne by 14. The Orange will need to get perimeter buckets by Chris Bell, Judah Mintz and Justin Taylor. Per KenPom, opponents make just 25.8% of shots from deep against Pitt, which ranks fourth in the country.

Defensively, SU will need to stop the Panthers’ leading scorer Blake Hinson, who averaged 23.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two wins over the Orange last season. The bench — mainly Maliq Brown and Quadir Copeland — has played strong for Syracuse recently, a trend that’ll need to continue if SU wants to enter its following matchup at Duke with five straight victories.

Henry O’Brien (11-1)
Rebound, rebound, rebound
Syracuse 71, Pittsburgh 69

Pittsburgh averages the most rebounds in the ACC and is the only team in the conference with six players tallying 50 rebounds or more. If that doesn’t give you some idea that Syracuse will have to rebound well against the Panthers, I don’t know what will. Guards like Hinson and Ishmael Leggett have the ability to tally boards, so SU bench guys like Copeland and Brown will need to fight in the paint. The Orange also need to show that they can put up another performance like they did against Oregon.

While I don’t believe they will reach the heights of that performance, I think they have an opportunity to come close. Benny Williams scored a career-high 24 points against Pitt last season and he has been improving sporadically over the past few games. Meanwhile, starters like Mintz and J.J. Starling will have improved shooting performances.

All in all, Syracuse will come out with its first conference win. The Orange match up well against the Panthers, who have struggled against Power Six teams (1-3 record).

Tyler Schiff (11-1)
#H2Syracuse
Syracuse 80, Pittsburgh 75

Following a nine-day hiatus since defeating Niagara 83-71 in its final nonconference matchup this season, Syracuse can pick up a fifth straight win against Pittsburgh. Like SU, the Panthers haven’t collected many impressive, resume-building victories aside from a 80-63 away result over West Virginia on Dec. 6.

Come Saturday, the Orange have to shut down established veterans Leggett and Hinson, but will need to keep an eye out for star freshman Carlton Carrington. The 6-foot-5 guard recorded Pitt’s first triple-double (18 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) since 1998 in his collegiate debut — a 100-52 season-opening win against North Carolina A&T — and currently averages 13.8 points per game.

Syracuse’s dismantling of Pittsburgh’s three-pronged attack begins with an all-around display from its backcourt of Mintz and Starling, and an extension of quality play from its backups. SU’s bench has totaled 84 points across its last two contests with resident sixth-man Quadir Copeland tallying 27 during said stretch.

The Orange’s second ACC game won’t be anything like their nightmarish trip to Charlottesville, Virginia. Syracuse is capable of eking out a quality home win to close out 2023.

Published on December 29, 2023 at 7:30 pm