Syracuse (10-3) starts conference play against Pittsburgh (10-1) on Wednesday night in the Petersen Events Center. Syracuse has a difficult schedule at the outset of Atlantic Coast Conference play, where it faces the Panthers, No. 13 Miami and No. 7 North Carolina in three of the first four games.

Last year, the Orange started out conference play at 4-0, but still finished at 9-9 after self-imposing a postseason ban in February. This year, SU won’t have to overcome a ban, but it faces the difficult reality of having just six consistent rotation players. It’s also struggled mightily to rebound the ball and has dropped off in its shooting percentages since winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in November.

Here’s what you need to know about SU’s next opponent.

The Pittsburgh report

Pittsburgh swept through a fairly easy nonconference schedule. The Panthers’ only big game, against then-No. 11 Purdue, ended in a 72-59 loss. It won every other game, but didn’t play any of the top 90 teams according to kenpom.com. It’s also coming off a scare against Western Carolina, where the Panthers trailed by seven points with seven minutes to play against a 4-8 team.

The Panthers are a very experienced team. They have two seniors starting in the backcourt with James Robinson and Sterling Smith. They have two juniors at the forward positions in Jamel Artis and Michael Young. And they have a senior transfer in Rafael Maia starting at center. Pittsburgh is 13th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency per, Kenpom. They rebound the ball well and get to the free-throw line a lot — nearly a quarter of their points come from the stripe.

All-time series

Wednesday will mark the 106th meeting between the old Big East rivals. Syracuse owns a 65-40 advantage in those matchups. With Jamie Dixon as Pitt’s head coach, though, the Orange is 6-12 against the Panthers.

Last time they played

Syracuse lost to Pittsburgh, 65-61, in the Carrier Dome on Feb. 21, 2015. It was the second game of a home-and-home, both of which the Orange lost. Artis, Young and Chris Jones combined for 49 points.

The Orange was down by one with the ball and 39 seconds to play, but Rakeem Christmas — who finished with 20 points — was called for a moving screen.

“I though we played as hard as you could ask a team to play,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said after the game. “It was a great battle back at the end. We made some great defensive plays. I thought we gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game.”

 

 

How Pittsburgh beats Syracuse

The Panthers have a pretty good formula to beat anyone. They draw a lot of fouls but hardly ever foul their opponent. They shoot the 3 at nearly a 40 percent clip but defend it to a 29 percent mark. They turn the ball over on just 16.7 percent of their possessions and get offensive rebounds on 38 percent of their misses, per Kenpom. The formula that has led to their 10 wins in the first 11 games is one to follow against the Orange. If they rebound and shoot well, it will be hard for SU to do anything to combat that.

Stat to know

Pittsburgh is insanely good at free-throw shooting. It has an 81.6-percent clip from the line, which is good for third in the country. For as good as Pittsburgh has been from the line, its opponents have been just as bad. Teams shoot just 60.6 percent from the line when facing Pittsburgh, which is the third worst in the country, per Kenpom. Free throws matter, and that rings very, very true for Pittsburgh so far this season.

Player to watch

Michael Young has gotten hot at the right time for Pittsburgh. In his last four games, he’s averaging 18.8 points per game. In Pittsburgh’s best win this season, over Davidson, he scored 22 on 9-of-14 shooting. He’s an explosive player on the interior, but also has the ability to play the point for Pittsburgh. He never gets in foul trouble either, committing just 14 in 11 games this season. Pittsburgh relies on him, as well as Artis in the frontcourt to be two of the team’s most prolific scorers.

Published on December 29, 2015 at 12:04 pm