Syracuse basketball travels to long-time rival Pittsburgh on Saturday, and the Orange has looked awful in its last two Atlantic Coast Conference contests.
Last Saturday evening, Duke torched the ‘Cuse on the Hill by 22 points. And this past Wednesday night, Syracuse basketball lost on the road to Clemson by 18 points.
In each of those two setbacks, the Orange (16-12, 9-8 in the ACC) was crushed on the glass, and the ‘Cuse perimeter defense was also not good. The Blue Devils, not a great 3-point shooting squad, connected on 13-of-26 from deep versus the Orange.
And the Tigers, on their own turf, hit on 14-of-36 from beyond the arc. The Syracuse basketball zone has to make some adjustments when it takes the court versus Pittsburgh.
Speaking of the Panthers (20-8, 13-4), they enter this league clash having won seven of their last eight encounters. Their only loss during that stretch was on the road to Virginia Tech by seven points.
Most recently, this past Tuesday evening, Pittsburgh defeated Georgia Tech at home.
At present, the Orange is hovering around the middle of the pack in the current ACC standings. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is in the top four, and the Panthers have a legitimate shot to capture the conference’s regular-season crown.
Syracuse basketball at Pittsburgh odds
On Fright night, actionnetwork.com had the Orange as a 5.5-point betting underdog on the road versus the Panthers, with the over/under set at 144.5 points.
Syracuse basketball at Pittsburgh prediction
Per SU Athletics, the Orange holds a 73-49 advantage in its all-time series with the Panthers. Most recently, on December 20 of last year, Pittsburgh built up a 20-point lead over the ‘Cuse in Central New York.
Syracuse basketball would make a fierce comeback, but ultimately Pitt prevailed, 84-82. In that game, the Panthers won the boards, 44-35.
Pittsburgh also connected on roughly 40 percent from downtown, going 13-of-32 from 3-point land. That being said, the Panthers did commit a whopping 16 turnovers, and the Orange definitely needs to force a lot of Pitt miscues and grab some easy buckets out in transition on Saturday.
At the time of this writing, Syracuse basketball stood at No. 108 in the NCAA NET rankings. The Panthers were No. 53, making this a quadrant-one opportunity for the ‘Cuse.
So far in the 2022-23 term, Pittsburgh is 13-3 at home, whereas the Orange is 5-5 in true road contests. Currently, bracketologists predominantly have the Panthers in the range of a No. 9 seed to a No. 11 seed in this spring’s Big Dance.
Pitt’s resume includes solid triumphs over Northwestern, North Carolina twice, Wake Forest, Miami, Virginia and N.C. State, among others.
Syracuse basketball, on the flip side, is nowhere close to the bubble at this juncture. However, it would be nice if the Orange could knock off the Panthers on the road to notch the team’s first quad-one win in 2022-23.
Obviously, earlier this season, the ‘Cuse played a closely fought affair against Pitt. But the Panthers are excellent at home. I fear that Syracuse basketball is going to get dominated on the boards and allow a bunch of 3-pointers.
To have any shot of upsetting Pitt, which is just outside the top 25 in both major polls, the ‘Cuse has to get senior center Jesse Edwards more involved on offense.
Even still, I’m going to take Pittsburgh to come out on top this Saturday versus the Orange.
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 Panthers will tip off at 5 pm at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday, Feb. 25. The ACC Network will televise this duel.
For Syracuse basketball and Pittsburgh fans who want to stream this game, you can check it out on fuboTV.
After the ‘Cuse plays Pitt, the Orange wraps up the 2022-23 regular season with two ACC contests at the JMA Wireless Dome. First up is Georgia Tech, followed by Wake Forest.
The Yellow Jackets will make a trip to the Hill on Tuesday, Feb. 28, with the tip-off scheduled for 7 pm and television coverage on regional sports networks.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.