The Syracuse Basketball team plays their 27th game of the season against ACC rival and No. 1 ranked Duke Saturday evening. Inside The Loud House tells you how you can catch the game.
Syracuse basketball fans can finally breathe a sigh of relief: the much-anticipated home matchup against Duke at the Carrier Dome is finally here. The circumstances are not what we expected coming in with coach Jim Boeheim and the Jimenez family dealing with a tragic car accident and Zion Williamson not playing due to a freak injury leading to a blowout Duke lost the game before. However, this still has all the makings of another ACC classic.
Duke is once again ranked No. 1 overall. That’s a standing they held the last team we played and beat them on January 14th at Cameron Indoor Stadium. That win by the Orange was historic for a bunch of different reasons. However, to beat a really good team once is something. To beat that team a second time would be something special. The Orange have the talent, it’s just a matter of which team we will see.
The Orange have quality wins versus Duke, Ohio State, and Louisville, of which only one came at home (Louisville) They have also pretty much destroyed the cellar dwellers of the ACC in Boston College (twice) and Pittsburgh (twice).
Their one flaw that has the Orange on the bubble is head-scratching losses to Old Dominion (at home), Georgia Tech (at home), Connecticut (neutral court), and to some extent NC State (on the road), and Oregon (neutral court). Those losses are games tournament teams should win and the Orange didn’t. Therefore a win versus Duke Saturday evening once again might secure our bid once and for all regardless of how the Orange play down the stretch.
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Duke meanwhile is safely in the tournament, the only thing they’re fighting for is the No. 1 overall seed. However, they are going to be playing without star forward Zion Williamson for this game who injured his knee when he fell out of his broken shoe a play into the North Carolina game earlier this week.
Normally one player wouldn’t be such a huge deal for a tremendous Duke team like this that is loaded with talent, but Williamson is almost everything for Duke. He averages 21.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.8 blocked shots, according to ESPN.com That stat line is fricken ridiculous!
To put that in perspective, Williamson put up 35 points, 10 rebounds, four blocked shots, one steal, and one assist in the loss to Syracuse just over a month ago. In addition, he shots 12 of 20 from the field overall and made 10 of his 14 free throws. He controlled that game from start to finish for Duke, and Syracuse had no answer for him. So his loss will definitely be felt in this second matchup.
Syracuse basketball and the Syracuse community are dealing with more emotions than just a missing player due to injury though. The news came out this week in regards to a tragic fatal car crash involving coach Jim Boeheim this week following the huge win versus Louisville Wednesday night. That tragedy still stings for this community and we are holding the Jimenez family and Coach Boeheim’s family in our prayers and thoughts in this difficult time.
The Orange will have to look to put those emotions aside and come out strong and focused if they want to win against this talented Duke team a second time. It definitely won’t be easy, but a record-setting crowd of 35,446+ fans at the Carrier Dome, are hoping they can do just that. Its a win this community and coach could use, and one we sorely hope they’ll get.
Either way, we should be looking at another classic between these two. It has everything: emotion, record-setting crowd, high stakes for both teams, and it’s Duke-Syracuse, two ACC heavyweight programs. It’s everything a college basketball should enjoy.
So will the game be televised? Well, ladies and gents I’m glad to say that, not surprisingly, Yes, the game will be nationally televised Saturday, February 23rd on ESPN at 6:00 p.m. ET, according to Syracuse.com. Better yet, you can also view the game on streaming devices or online on the WatchESPN app or ESPN3.com. The game, as always, can also be heard online under the listen tab at Cuse.com or locally on the radio on Syracuse’s IMG Sports Network: 99.5 FM/105 FM. For all other game details, check out the info below:
Game Info
Who’s Playing: Syracuse (18-8, 9-4 ACC) and Duke (23-3, 11-2 ACC)
Where: Carrier Dome
Rivalry: 6-7, Duke leads all-time series, according to Orangehoops.org
When: Saturday, February 23rd at 6:00 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN
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 26th at North Carolina (UNC)