Syracuse (18-12, 7-10) will face the Clemson Tigers (22-7, 11-6) in the final regular season game of the year Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.
The Orange hope to recreate the magic they had against Clemson during last year’s matchup, when sophomore guard Tyus Battle hit a buzzer-beater three to down the Tigers 82-81 on the road.
Syracuse is coming off a tough 85-70 loss against Boston College on Wednesday, despite an impressive 29 point performance by Battle. The team shot only 19-of-50 from the floor, and gave up 14 three pointers to the Eagles, the most the team’s allowed since December 9 against Colgate.
Freshman Oshae Brissett and junior Frank Howard also tallied impressive scoring numbers, finishing with 18 points and 17 points respectively.
Clemson, on the other hand, just notched their record-breaking 11th ACC win of the season against Florida State on Wednesday, also tying a program record for their 15th home win of the season. The Tigers were led in scoring by Marcquise Reed with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He’s averaging 16 points and five rebounds, and looks to be Clemson’s biggest offensive threat going into Saturday.
SU versus Clemson starts at 2:00. Countdown to Tipoff begins at 1:30, only on 88.3 FM WAER.
The Orange will need a win to stay in NCAA tournament contention, but they’ll need to make a fairly deep run in the ACC tournament to get a chance to play in late March. Without a win against Clemson, however, the team’s chances don’t look too promising regardless.
The ACC Tournament begins on Tuesday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.