Syracuse basketball announces exhibition game against Pace

Syracuse and Pace will meet in exhibition play for the third time since 2012, when they face off heading into the upcoming season. Orange athletics announced Wednesday the teams will play October 29, 2025, with game time to be determined.

Feb 24, 2024; Syracuse, New York, USA; Syracuse Orange guard JJ Starling (2) reacts to making a basket against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first half at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

One of the two exhibition games on the 2025-26 Syracuse basketball schedule has now been officially announced by the university. SU will meet Div. II Pace University in the final tune-up prior to the still yet-to-be-announced regular season opener.

Although Syracuse's first exhibition game has yet to be officially announced by the school, and does not appear on the updated schedule sent to the media Wednesday, previous reports have confirmed the opponent. SU will open up exhibition play with a game in Buffalo against the University of Buffalo on Saturday, October, 25.

Syracuse sees a somewhat familiar face in Pace

Syracuse is continuing to evolve its non-ACC scheduling philosophy, and this year is no different. While the projected game against Div. I UB in an NBA-sized arena (Key Bank Center) takes advantage of a two-year old rule change allowing for such games, SU is continuing its trend of meeting at least one Div. II team.

Pace, which is based in Pleasantville, N.Y. plays in the Northeast 10 Conference, and the Settlers come off a great 24-8 / 14-6 record last season, making the Div. II NCAA Tournament.

The school also has a decade-plus history of two matchups with the 'Cuse in the Dome dating back to 2012, both easy SU victories.

Pace led Syracuse 2-0 in the '12 game, before the Orange ripped off 16 straight points on route to winning going away 99-63 behind James Southerland's 18 points.

In the 2021 meeting, the Orange took control of the contest with a barrage of three-pointers amidst a 14-3 first-half run to win 79-60. Cole Swider had a game-high 21 points to lead SU.

Pace is directed by nine-year head coach Matt Healing, who returns to the Dome sporting a 141-125 career mark with three NCAA Tournament appearances at the school.

Patience Orange Nation, the complete schedule is still a few weeks away

At ACC Kickoff in July, we asked some conference media relations folks when the complete basketball schedule would be released for each of the 18 teams, and were told, "the week after Labor Day (September 1)."

Syracuse still has to announce the Buffalo exhibition, the date of the Binghamton game, and the times and broadcast coverage of the 13 non-league games, other than what's known about the game times and TV coverage for the Houston and Kansas games in the Player's Era Festival in Las Vegas.

SU plays the defending national runners-up Cougars on Monday, November 24 at 6:00 pm ET (TNT/truTV), and the Jayhawks on Tuesday, November 25 at 3:30 p.m. ET (TNT/truTV).

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