Syracuse men’s basketball tests undefeated home record against Pittsburgh Saturday

One of the main changes in Syracuse basketball’s play under Jim Boeheim to new head coach Adrian Autry has been a move away from the 2-3 zone. In SU’s two games with Pitt last season, the Orange allowed the Panthers to hit nearly 40% of its threes en route to an 0-2 record against its former Big East foes.

Don’t expect the same-old defense out of Syracuse (9-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) when it hosts Pittsburgh (9-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) on Saturday. This season, the Orange have held opponents to just a 29% clip from deep, the fifth-best marker in the conference. In its most recent four-game win streak, the Orange have held opponents to under 25% shooting from three.

“I think we’re doing a better job of locating shooters,” said SU head coach Adrian Autry after an 83-63 win over Oregon, where his team allowed the Ducks to go just 4-27 from three-point land. “We’re doing a better job of making people take quick or contested threes.”

Locating a three-point threat for Pittsburgh will not be difficult to do. One jumps off the page in leading scorer Blake Hinson. The senior connects on nearly four three-pointers a game, which ranks fourth best in D-I. In a game versus West Virginia, the forward nailed nine threes on 15 attempts for a season-high 29 points. On the season, the second-team All-ACC honoree has hit over 45% of his 98 three-point tries. Outside of Hinson, the Panthers connect on just 30% of triples.

Even in games where Hinson doesn’t score, Pittsburgh head coach Jeff Capel thinks his presence alone elevates the offense.

“He takes a guy away defensively because they won’t leave him,” Capel said after Hinson was held to a season-low 5 points versus Purdue Fort Wayne. “The threat of him opens up so much stuff for everyone else.”

In that win over PFU last time out, Pitt scored a season-low 62 points, shooting 10% from three with 13 turnovers.

That plays right into another strength for SU’s defense. Syracuse averages 9.2 steals per game, the second-best in the conference. That includes 8 or more steals in its last four games. SU had active hands against Oregon down in South Dakota.

The Orange have consistently rolled out a 4-5 player bench rotation, which gives their stars like guard Judah Mintz and forward Chris Bell plenty of rest if needed. When they take a seat, players such as guard Quadir Copeland seamlessly inject life into SU.

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“With the guys we have out there, I feel like we can play at a different tempo,” Copeland said. “At the end of the day, we could go five and five. We can play five off the bench and our five starters.”

The sophomore has scored in double figures off the bench in his past three games. In two of those games, forward Maliq Brown also scored more than 10 off the bench. That included a 15-point outing against Niagara in which the sophomore went 6-6 from the field.

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It’ll take all the hustle the Orange can muster to get revenge for last year’s sweep against the Panthers. The 124th matchup between Syracuse and Pittsburgh tips off Saturday, December 30 at noon. WAER’s coverage begins with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff at 11:30 a.m.