Syracuse students agree: Just win baby.
Syracuse earned a nice comeback win against GTech on Saturday. Despite not leading for the majority of the game, Syracuse was able to pull ahead and get a nice lead to sweep GTech for the season. Now Syracuse has the chance to sweep another ACC foe in Pittsburgh.
Syracuse dominated the first half against Pittsburgh when they first played in Syracuse, only for the game to get tighter in the 2nd as Syracuse basically hung on for a win. Pittsburgh wasn't able to make jumpers in the first half, or get int he paint. But then Syracuse's offense stalled in the 2nd half, and Pittsburgh made the game tighter despite never gaining the lead. Syracuse will look to finish off Pittsburgh early on their home court. Justin Chamgagnie was the leading scorer and rebounder for Pitt in that game, and he leads the team in both. However, Pittsburgh is dreadful at 3 point field goal % at 29.2, as well as raking 342nd in the nation in offensive rebounding. That's a formula for Syracuse to win again. Pittsburgh coughs up the ball and they don't score a ton, nor do they get many 2nd chance points. If Syracuse is able to keep Sidibe and/or Dolezaj in the game, this one may not be a crushing like Boston College earlier in the season was, but it will certainly be more easy going than GTech was. Guerrier lead in rebounding for Syracuse in the last game, and I look for him to do damage on the boards in this one. Girard made some ill advised shots in the last game, and he's certainly stopped just bombing shots in the last few games. While Boeheim isn't shooting as much as he was earlier in the year, Syracuse should have plenty of opportunity to get transition buckets, including those from long range. Despite being in The Pete, they don't seem to have the home court advantage they are used to, as they have obviously not won too many games period. I think this is tighter than SU fans would want, but it still won't be too nerve racking. SU over Pitt by 9.
This game is available on The ACC Network at 7:00pm. Both John and I will be watching. GO ORANGE!
Labels: ACC, Basketball, Pittsburgh, Preview, Rivalries
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