ACC play the rest of the way for Syracuse, starting with Pittsburgh Tuesday night

Syracuse men’s basketball is in the zone, stringing together five straight wins. The Orange closed out their non-conference schedule on Saturday with a 78-63 win over Cornell. SU looks to keep the train rolling when Pittsburgh comes to the dome Tuesday night.

Cornell did not make things easy. The Orange trailed the Big Red for most of the first half, but surged in the final minute to send the game to halftime tied 37-37. SU came out firing in the second half and outscored Cornell 41-26 to seal the win. All five starters scored in double digits for the 'Cuse, highlighted by 19 points from Joe Girard III.

“It feels like we’re building chemistry, we’re getting better every day,” Syracuse forward Chris Bell said after the game. Bell put up 13 points, his first double digit effort since November 26th.

The Big Red tried to beat the infamous 2-3 zone with three point scoring, but shot just 27% from beyond the arc. It was a bad shooting day all-around for a Cornell team that shot 33% on a ridiculous 76 attempts.

“I thought Cornell was better than us today, and I thought they just missed shots, only reason we won the game is because they missed shots,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame.

Unfortunately for the Orange, they play in a conference that doesn’t miss many shots. The ACC has ten teams, including Syracuse, that are currently shooting above 45% from the field. SU’s final 19 games are against conference rivals. The 'Cuse beat Notre Dame earlier in the season 63-62 to round out the in-conference schedule at 20 games.

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The ACC has four ranked teams in the December 12 AP poll. The Orange see No. 2 Virginia twice in January, No. 12 Duke at home in February, No. 24 Virginia Tech twice in January, and No. 25 Miami down in Coral Gables in January. North Carolina came into the season ranked number one, but four straight losses to Iowa State, No. 4 Alabama, No. 14 Indiana, and No. 24 Virginia Tech dropped UNC from the rankings.

Lucky for Syracuse, it doesn’t have to worry about the gauntlet of the ACC in 2022. The 'Cuse play two more games this calendar year, the first of which comes Tuesday night against Pittsburgh.

On paper, this is a pretty even matchup. The Orange and Panthers both sit at 8-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play. SU averages 74.8 points-per-game and the Panthers average 75.1. Pittsburgh does have a bit of an edge on the glass where it averages 40.2 rebounds-per-game, almost three rebounds more than the Orange. On the defensive side, the Panthers give up 66.2 points-per-game, while the 'Cuse give up 68.2. Statistically, Pittsburgh has a slight edge, but coming to the JMA Wireless Dome where Syracuse is on a four-game home win streak is a tall task.

Forward Blake Hinson leads Pittsburgh in two major categories, averaging 16 points and 7 boards, so containing him will be key for Syracuse to pull off a victory. The Panthers also have a good guard duo in Jamarius Burton and Greg Elliott who can give Joe Girard III and Judah Mintz a run for their money.

The Orange and Panthers split last year’s series, with each team winning once on their own home court. Jeff Capel III, the head coach for Pittsburgh, led his team to an 11-21 overall record last season, 6-14 in ACC play. Capel has never finished a campaign with a winning record at Pitt since taking over as head coach in 2018. The Panthers under Capel have been horrific in ACC play, owning a 21-53 record.

Tipoff between Syracuse and Pittsburgh is scheduled for 9 p.m. WAER’s coverage begins at 8:30 with McClurg Team Countdown to Tipoff.