The Orange (16-12, 9-8 ACC) visit Pittsburgh Saturday for the final road game on their slate. The Panthers (20-8, 13-4) have been a surprise team in the ACC and have won nine out of 11 after beating Georgia Tech on Tuesday night, 76-68. Pitt led Syracuse by 20 in the second half and held off a furious rally for an 84-82 win at the JMA Wireless Dome back in December.

Saturday’s tip-off between Syracuse and Pittsburgh is set for 5:00pm Eastern and the ACC Network will televise the game.

Blake Hinson posted game-highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds in that contest and is a whisker ahead of Jamarius Burton among Panthers in scoring on the season at 15.6 points per outing while also topping the team in rebounds and three-pointers. Nelly Cummings hit six triples as he piled up 22 points against SU, more than doubling his season scoring average (10.9 pts/game).

Judah Mintz paced the Orange in the first meeting, ringing up 24 points and five steals. Joe Girard had 16 points, connecting three times from long range.

After dropping their last two games by a combined 40 points, it is hard to see Syracuse coming back from the dead against Pittsburgh, who is currently second in the ACC at 13-4 in conference play and 20-8 overall. One of those victories came at the expense of the Orange (16-12, 9-8), as the Pitt held off a late rally to claim an 84-82 win.

While that game was played over two months ago, it had some similarities to SU’s last two outings. Despite averaging 9.2 triples a game, Pitt blitzed Syracuse with eight three-pointers in the opening half and 13 in the game. Nelly Cummings got free for six of those threes and three other Panthers each hit a pair of treys.

Jesse Edwards was not particularly effective on offense, scoring just two of his eight points after halftime, but Judah Mintz was big in that second session, tallying 15 of his 24 points. Edwards was very effective on defense against a smaller Pittsburgh team, swatting six shots, but the Panthers made him uncomfortable on offense by simply bodying him up.

Pitt was unusually sloppy in that game as Syracuse rallied from down 20, turning the ball over ten times in the second half. However, the Panthers have tidied up that part of their game, turning the ball over just ten times a game since then.

Pittsburgh has seen a significant connection between their three-point shooting success and getting wins, as they are 16-2 when they shoot better than 30 percent from beyond the arc. The Orange have given up at least nine triples in each of their last seven games and 27 in their last two. Those last two games came after a three-game win streak where SU permitted their foes to make just 27.9 percent from deep. And those last two? Duke and Clemson shot 43.5 percent from deep.

There is no real reason to think the Syracuse perimeter defense will suddenly snap back into shape, so give this one to Pittsburgh 78-71.

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