Syracuse Basketball plays its 28th game of the season at Pittsburgh Wednesday night. Inside The Loud House tells you how to watch and listen to the game.
Syracuse basketball is still rolling and heading into the home stretch with just a couple more games left to go before the postseason ACC Tournament.
Last game, the Orange rallied from a halftime double-digit deficit and came back to beat Georgia Tech 79-72. The Orange must now regroup quickly from that tight game and expect another hotly contested affair at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, and with their rowdy fans in the Oakland Zoo.
The Panthers, like the Orange, have struggled mightily this year and have a similar record at 15-13 overall, according to ESPN.com. However, they have struggled more in ACC play than Syracuse, coming in with a 6-11 ACC conference record. That being said, the Panthers will not be taking rival Syracuse lightly in this game, especially after their close loss last time they met in the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse basketball, on the other hand, has things to play for. The Orange may be out of the NCAA Tournament hunt as of right now, but they can still look to improve the seeding in the ACC Tournament (which could help them win it all and earn the ACC’s automatic bid to March Madness) as well as improve their possible seeding for the NIT Tournament.
The higher your seed in the NIT, the more likely you can play at home. (In this case, the Orange are looking at alternate sites near home in which to play due to Carrier Dome construction closing the facility, but I digress.) So the Orange definitely wants to keep the good times rolling and improve to 16-12 overall, and 9-8 in the conference.
So what should we expect?
Everything about this game on paper says this will be a tough, close matchup. Last time Syracuse basketball played Pittsburgh at home this year, the Orange barely hung on for a 69-61 win.
Here’s how the margin looks according to the
:
In order to pick up the win on the road, the Orange will need everyone to play sharp. Pittsburgh is well coached by former Duke assistant Jeff Capel, which means that he knows what to look for against some of the nation’s best teams.
The Orange will need Marek Dolezaj and Quincy Guerrier to continue to step up as that third or fourth option in scoring and to all rebound and block out well inside to limit the Panthers’ bigs.
The Orange will also need Joe Girard to continue his momentum offensively which lately has helped him become that second option to Elijah Hughes when Buddy Boeheim has struggled scoring. His leadership and poise at the point guard position have really calmed this team down in the second half of the season and the team has played much better.
Though there have been some close losses, that may be due to horrible defense than bad offense. In other words, as long as Girard keeps his head up and continues looking for his shot inside and outside, and finds his teammates for open shots, then the Orange will stay in games when Boeheim can’t seem to find his shot. If the Orange has a game where Hughes, Boeheim, and Girard are all hot, that team won’t know what hit them. Just ask Bucknell earlier this year:
So how can I watch or listen to the game?
The game will be played at Pittsburgh and shown on the ACC Network Wednesday, February 26th at 7:00 p.m., according to Syracuse.com. You can also watch the game on the ESPN app, but you’ll need a cable or streaming service subscription that includes ACC Network in order to watch the game. The good news is if you can’t make it to the game (in person), you can also always hear it on the radio.
You can listen to the game on Syracuse’s IMG Sports Network at TK 99.5/105 FM and on Cuse.com under the listen tab on the Syracuse Basketball schedule page. For the rest of the game info, you need to know check out the details below. Let’s Go Orange!
Game Info
Who’s Playing: Syracuse (15-12, 8-8 ACC) and Pitt (15-13, 6-11 ACC)
Where: Petersen Events Center
When: Wednesday, February 26th at 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Petersen Events Center
Rivalry: 72-45, Syracuse leads all-time series, according to Orangehoops.org.
TV Channel: ACC Network (ACCN)
Online Stream: ESPN app (with a cable or streaming subscription to ACC Network included)
Radio: 99.5 FM/105 FM (TK-99), WAER 88.3 FM, and Cuse.com
Up Next for Syracuse: Saturday, February 29th at 4:00 p.m. ET versus North Carolina (UNC) in the Carrier Dome