The Syracuse Basketball team plays their 22nd game of the season against Pittsburgh on the road Saturday evening. Inside The Loud House tells you how you can watch and listen to the game.
Syracuse basketball and its fan base were reeling after a hard to watch 78-56 loss to Virginia Tech just a few short days ago. However, the Orange bounced back in a big way with a tough win on the road, 77-71, at Boston College. Tyus Battle led the way with 31 points and six assists and was unstoppable down the stretch against BC. Now the Orange will play one more game on the road at Pittsburgh on Saturday night before going home to play fringe-Top 25 team Florida State on Tuesday.
Syracuse finish their three game road stretch with a visit to Pittsburgh who has not played well in ACC play. The Panthers are 12-9 overall on the year and 2-6 in conference. The Panthers are coming off a brutal 82-69 loss at Clemson on Tuesday where they trailed 51-23 at the half, according to ESPN.com.
To add insult to injury, the Orange played the Panthers just a few games back and managed to hold on for a hard fought 74-63 win at home according to ESPN.com. This came after stunning Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium just a few days prior. The Orange now though have the tough task of beating Pitt on the road at the Petersen Events Center.
To anyone who has watched Syracuse basketball for the last decade or so, you will know the Oakland Zoo (the nickname given for the student section/arena that was named after the town the campus is located in), is not any easy place to play for the Orange. Since the Petersen Events Center opened in late 2002, the Orange have just a 3-9 record there, according to Orangehoops.org. Ouch.
The three wins the Orange have had at the Petersen have all had pretty sweet. The first victory the Orange had there, a 49-46 win on February 29th, 2004, was also the first time anyone had beaten the Pittsburgh men’s basketball team at home. Up to that point, the Panthers had been 34-0 at home since the Petersen Events Center opened, according to ESPN.com. To make matters even better, it was a huge upset for the unranked Syracuse basketball team as the Panthers were sitting at No 3 in the nation at the time.
The second victory was one I’ll never forget. The Orange were 23-0 coming into the game at Pittsburgh February 12th, 2014, and were just 4.4 seconds away from their first loss. Then Tyler Ennis lobbed a prayer that went through to give Syracuse a 58-56 win and kept their undefeated season going a little longer. Let’s just savor this again shall we?
The last victory SU has at Pitt was actually last season. Jamie Dixon, the Pittsburgh basketball coach that had befuddled our zone for years, had left town in favor of TCU the year before and Pittsburgh had hired Kevin Stallings in his place. As a result, the Orange finally were able to edge out their third win at Pittsburgh, 60-55.
Not surprisingly, though I’m sure its unrelated to this loss to Syracuse, Kevin Stallings was canned shortly after in favor of Jeff Capel, former Duke assistant coach of whom the Orange is now 1-0 against (albeit at home)
So now that I’ve hyped up the history between these two, you’re probably wondering if this classic rivalry game will be nationally televised? The answer is once again, yes! It will be in prime time at 6:00 p.m ET on ESPN2. Better yet, some of you can also view the game on streaming devices or online on the WatchESPN app or ESPN3.com. The game, as always though can be heard online as always under the listen tab at Cuse.com or locally on the radio on Syracuse’s IMG Sports Network: 99.5 FM/105 FM, according to Cuse.com. For all other game details, check out the info below:
Game Info
Who’s Playing: Syracuse (15-6, 6-2 ACC) and Pitt (12-9, 2-6 ACC)
Where: Petersen Events Center
Rivalry: 69-45, Syracuse leads all-time series, according to Orangehoops.org.
When: Saturday, February 2nd at 6:00 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN2
Online Stream: Watch ESPN/ESPN3.com
Radio: 99.5 FM/105 FM (TK-99), WAER 88.3 FM, and Cuse.com
Up Next for Syracuse: Tuesday, February 5th versus Florida State