Syracuse basketball, after getting crushed by Duke over the weekend, hits the road for its next two Atlantic Coast Conference clashes.
Up first, the Orange will travel to Clemson on Wednesday night, followed by a collision with Pittsburgh on the road this coming Saturday.
The Tigers (19-8, 11-5 in the ACC) are struggling a bit these days, although Clemson is still hovering around a top-four squad in the league standings at present in the 2022-23 campaign.
Most recently, the Tigers fell at Louisville on Saturday. Clemson has lost four of its past five games.
For the ‘Cuse (16-11, 9-7), meanwhile, Syracuse basketball had won three straight, at both Boston College and Florida State, and then on the Hill against then-No. 23 N.C. State.
However, this past Saturday evening, in front of 31,063 fans, the most in a Division I men’s basketball contest to date in 2022-23, the ‘Cuse got torched by Duke, 77-55.
The Blue Devils have now captured eight straight versus Syracuse basketball. Duke, not a great 3-point shooting team in the current stanza, was stellar from beyond the arc against the Orange.
What’s more, the Blue Devils totally pounded the ‘Cuse on the glass. It was a disappointing showing for Syracuse basketball after having played some solid games of late.
Syracuse basketball at Clemson odds
On Tuesday evening, actionnetwork.com had the Orange as a 3.0-point betting underdog to the Tigers, with the over/under set at 143.0 points.
Syracuse basketball at Clemson prediction
Per SU Athletics, the Orange is 6-6 in its all-time series with the Tigers. Most recently, in January of 2022, Syracuse basketball put forth a strong performance in handling Clemson, 91-78, in Central New York.
While the Tigers have lost four of their last five, Clemson does own victories over squads such as Penn State, California, Richmond, Wake Forest, Duke, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech twice and N.C. State.
At this juncture, Clemson’s NCAA NET ranking is at No. 81, meaning this is a quadrant-two opportunity for the ‘Cuse, unless the Tigers can climb into the top 75.
Syracuse basketball, by the way, is presently at No. 101 in the NET ratings, which is not good at all.
Until its recent slide, Clemson was projected as a 2023 NCAA Tournament team, but now the Tigers appear to be on the wrong side of the proverbial bubble.
The Orange needs to win in droves to have any shot at entering the conversation for this spring’s Big Dance. The ‘Cuse doesn’t have an impressive non-conference slate, and the team is in the middle of the pack within the current ACC standings.
From a statistical standpoint, there are a lot of similarities between Syracuse basketball and Clemson. The Tigers do score slightly more points per game, while allowing slightly fewer points per encounter than the ‘Cuse.
Also, Clemson is exceptional at the charity stripe, where it connects on 80.0 percent. The Tigers are also solid from deep, hitting on 36.0 percent from 3-point land.
I envision a really close meeting here. Although Clemson is struggling, Syracuse basketball looked awful over the weekend versus Duke, and the Tigers get the Orange at home.
I’ll reluctantly pick Clemson to knock off the ‘Cuse by a few points.
Injuries, how to watch, live stream, next game
On the injury front, freshman big man Peter Carey is out for the rest of the 2022-23 campaign, Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has said.
The 6-foot-11 Carey, a power forward/center, has had a surgical procedure done on his right knee and is expected to take a medical redshirt this year, Boeheim has said.
We’ll certainly continue to monitor the injury front for the ‘Cuse in the current stanza.
The Orange and the Tigers will tip off beginning at 7 pm on Wednesday, Feb. 22, from the Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. The ACC Network will air this league battle.
For Syracuse basketball and Clemson fans who want to stream this game, you can check it out on fuboTV.
After the ‘Cuse plays the Tigers on their own turf, Syracuse basketball will face another one of the better ACC teams during the 2022-23 term.
On Saturday, Feb. 25, starting at 5 pm, the Orange will suit up at Pittsburgh inside the Petersen Events Center. This conference collision will get televised on the ACC Network as well.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.