Syracuse Basketball: How to watch, key storylines as SU hosts Notre Dame on Saturday

Two Atlantic Coast Conference teams with identical records collide in Central New York on late Saturday afternoon, as Syracuse basketball will host Notre Dame.

The Orange (8-9, 2-4 in the ACC) had won two straight, but this past Tuesday night at home, the team was sub-par on both ends of the floor, getting blown out by surging Louisville. The Fighting Irish (8-9, 2-4 in the ACC), meanwhile, snapped a four-game losing streak when Notre Dame, on its turf, knocked off Boston College, 78-60, last Monday.

In early December of last year, amid the ACC opener for both squads, the 'Cuse went 0-of-9 from 3-point land and fell to the Fighting Irish on the road, 69-64. Per SU Athletics, in their all-time series together, Syracuse basketball is 34-23 against Notre Dame.

The Orange will aim to exact revenge on the Fighting Irish when they do battle this Saturday, Jan. 18, beginning at 4:00 pm from the JMA Wireless Dome and airing on the ACC Network. You can also check out this conference contest via live-streaming coverage on FuboTV.

Key storylines as Syracuse basketball welcomes Notre Dame to the Hill.

Obviously, one thing to monitor is freshman power forward Donnie Freeman, who has been unavailable over the past three affairs due to a lower right leg injury that the Orange has characterized as "day-to-day."

When I wrote this article, the 'Cuse had an NCAA NET ranking of No. 157 overall, with the Fighting Irish at No. 90, making this a quadrant-three game for Syracuse basketball.

Needless to say, for the Orange to have a realistic shot at conquering Notre Dame, junior guard J.J. Starling has to fare better than he did versus the Cardinals, when he only scored four points and committed six turnovers.

While the 'Cuse and the Fighting Irish both score around 75 points per encounter, Syracuse basketball allows 78.1 points per contest, which was dead last in the ACC at the time of this writing.

Three-point shooting is also an area of concern for the Orange. Notre Dame makes 36.8 percent from deep, which was No. 5 in the ACC when I penned this column. Syracuse basketball, conversely, hits just 29.4 percent, which was No. 17 in the conference.

Additionally, the 'Cuse perimeter defense needs to improve. Louisville is also not a collectively great 3-point shooting squad during the 2024-25 season, yet against Syracuse basketball (and on the road), the Cardinals connected on 42.9 percent from long range.

So far in 2024-25, Notre Dame has beaten Stonehill, Buffalo, Georgetown, North Dakota, Syracuse, Dartmouth, Le Moyne and Boston College. The Fighting Irish has lost to Elon, Rutgers, Houston, Creighton, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, N.C. State and Duke.

Even if Freeman is out on Saturday, the Orange must take care of business against Notre Dame at home. The fan base is growing increasingly frustrated, and I see no reason why the 'Cuse shouldn't conquer an opponent with the same record, especially given that Syracuse basketball will be at the Dome in this ACC affair.