After scoring two consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference road wins, Syracuse basketball returns to Central New York to host Florida State on Tuesday night.
This past Saturday afternoon, the 'Cuse notched an 11-point victory at Pittsburgh, with sophomore power forward Donnie Freeman, senior shooting guard J.J. Starling and senior center William Kyle III leading the charge.
That win was a quadrant-two result for the Orange (11-5 overall, 2-1 in the ACC), and now Syracuse basketball will have a quadrant-three opportunity against the Seminoles (7-9 overall, 0-3 in the ACC), which is led by first-year head coach Luke Loucks.
After beating the Panthers, the 'Cuse jumped up to No. 67 in the NCAA NET rankings, while FSU is No. 131 overall. Over at KenPom, Syracuse basketball is No. 61 overall and inside the top 50 in adjusted defensive efficiency. Florida State is No. 113 via KenPom.
How to watch Syracuse basketball host Florida State.
The 'Cuse and the Seminoles are scheduled to tip off at 9:00 pm EST on Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the JMA Wireless Dome. The ACC Network will air this conference clash. In their all-time series together, per SU Athletics, Syracuse basketball is 11-8 against FSU.
Most recently, in March of last year, the No. 14 seed Orange defeated the No. 11 seed Seminoles by a final score of 66-62 in the first round of last season's ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
To date in the 2025-26 season, Florida State has wins over Alcorn State, Alabama State, UT Martin, Georgia Southern, Cal State Bakersfield, Mississippi Valley State and Jacksonville. FSU's setbacks are to Florida, Texas A&M, Georgia, Houston, UMass, Dayton, North Carolina, Duke (by four points) and N.C. State.
The Seminoles score a lot but don't play defense all that well. They average 82.9 points per game while giving up 81.3 points, which on Sunday was dead-last in the ACC. Florida State also averages 36.8 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 9.2 steals, 3.8 blocks and 12.4 turnovers per contest while connecting on 42.2 percent from the field, 70.6 percent from the free-throw line and 31.7 percent from beyond the arc.
The 'Cuse averages 74.8 points per encounter and allows 65.7 points, which is No. 2 in the league. Syracuse also averages 36.0 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 6.6 assists, 6.7 blocks and 11.3 turnovers per affair while making 46.6 percent from the field, 62.9 percent from the charity stripe and 32.2 percent from downtown.
The Orange needs to take good care of the ball. Florida State is second in the ACC in steals per game, and Syracuse basketball has been inconsistent lately in terms of turnovers committed. What I mean by that is the 'Cuse will have a half where it only commits a handful of mistakes, but in the other half, the Orange will commit, say, eight to 10 miscues.
After Syracuse basketball battles FSU on the Hill, the 'Cuse will travel to Boston College on Saturday afternoon. This is a prime chance for Syracuse basketball to move to 13-5 overall and 4-1 in the ACC ahead of the competition intensifying.