Syracuse basketball returns to the Hill on Saturday afternoon to host long-time rival Pittsburgh.
The Orange (9-10, 3-5 in the ACC), playing without injured freshman power forward Donnie Freeman for the fifth game in a row, hung with Clemson on the road this past Wednesday night for a bit in the first half, but turnovers, a stagnant offense and relatively sub-par defense led to an 86-72 triumph for the Tigers.
J.J. Starling, the junior guard, and graduate student center Eddie Lampkin Jr. played well in that setback, but the 'Cuse needs more production from other members of the team's 2024-25 roster, something that head coach Adrian Autry alluded to in his post-game press conference after the Orange's loss to surging Clemson.
Now the 'Cuse looks to rebound against Pittsburgh (12-6, 3-4 in the ACC), a squad that started out red-hot in the 2024-25 campaign but, more recently, has lost four consecutive encounters.
How to watch Pittsburgh at Syracuse basketball on Saturday.
The Panthers and the Orange will collide on January 25 at the JMA Wireless Dome, with the tip-off scheduled for 12:30 pm. This Atlantic Coast Conference battle will air on ESPN2, and live-streaming coverage is also available on FuboTV.
Pittsburgh, predicted to finish at No. 7 in the league standings, per the ACC's preseason media poll, had an NCAA NET ranking of No. 32 overall when I wrote this article, as compared to No. 149 for the 'Cuse. If the Panthers move to No. 30 or better in the NET ratings, this would become a quadrant-one game for Syracuse basketball.
At the time of this writing, the Orange was 0-7 in quadrant-one affairs. Over at the Bracket Matrix Web site, Pittsburgh was forecast as a No. 10 seed in bracketology projections for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Per SU Athletics, Syracuse basketball is 75-50 in its all-time series with the Panthers. Most recently, in January of 2024, the 'Cuse beat Pittsburgh on the road by a final count of 69-58.
So far in 2024-25, the Panthers are averaging 80.4 points per game and allowing 70.8 points, along with 35.0 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 4.4 blocks, 7.3 steals and 10.5 turnovers. The Orange averages 74.9 points per contest and gives up 78.0 points, along with 37.5 rebounds, 13.5 assists, 2.7 blocks, 4.8 steals and 12.5 turnovers.
Pittsburgh is one of the better scoring, and shooting, teams in the ACC. The Panthers make 47.3 percent from the field, 36.0 percent from beyond the arc and a league-leading 79.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Syracuse basketball, conversely, connects on 45.6 percent from the field, 30.9 percent from 3-point land and 69.2 percent from the charity stripe.
In the current campaign, Pittsburgh has defeated Radford, Murray State, Gardner-Webb, West Virginia, VMI, LSU, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Eastern Kentucky, Sam Houston, California and Stanford.
On the flip side, the Panthers have fallen to Wisconsin, Mississippi State, Duke, Louisville, Florida State and Clemson.
Pittsburgh's most recent result occurred last Saturday, Jan. 18, when the Panthers lost at home to Clemson by three points in overtime, 78-75.