Syracuse looks to get above .500 in conference play when they travel to Pittsburgh

Syracuse continues their miniature road trip on Saturday when they have an afternoon matchup with an up-and-down Pittsburgh team. The Orange (10-5, 1-1 ACC) claimed their first conference victory on Tuesday night over Georgia Tech while the Panthers (7-8, 0-2) have lost their first two forays into ACC play.

Pitt opened the season with three straight home wins then lost six of eight with four defeats coming to power conference opponents and one of the wins being a buzzer-beater over Ohio State. The Panthers then won their last two non-conference games before dropping games to Miami and Clemson.

Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel runs with a short rotation, relying on just seven players for regular minutes of consequence. That playing pattern leads to a balanced offense, as each of the seven averages at least eight points per game.

Big man Cameron Corhen leads the way for the Panthers, averaging team-leading 13.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in just shy of 34 minutes per game. A solid shooter and good rebounder on both ends of the floor, the 6’10” Corhen is the lone player over 6’6” in their regular rotation.

The Panthers have two guards who can be too much

Barry Dunning Jr. and Damarco Minor are two of the starting guards and combine to form a very offensively productive duo, as both shoot the ball extremely well from almost all of the floor, including nearly 90 percent from the foul line.

Dunning was promoted to the starting lineup after the season started and is averaging 15.2 points per game since that time in large part by shooting over 75 percent on 2-point field goals since the promotion. While his 3-point shooting percentage has slid since becoming a starter, Dunning is second on the team with 27 3’s and shoots 36.5 percent from long range on the season.

Minor is the lone Panther with more treys than Dunning and should be a marked man for the SU perimeter defense. With 30 3-pointers on the season and owning a 41.7 percent mark from beyond the arc, Minor is the top long-range threat for Pitt. Minor also leads the team with a modest 3.4 assists per game average, but sports an assist-to-turnover ratio of better than 2.2-to-1.

That trio leads a pretty effective Pittsburgh offense that is well-balanced and has been playing a consistently efficient brand of basketball for the last month. Its strength lies in its 3-point shooting with six players already having made at least ten triples and a collective 35.9 percent shooting mark. The Panthers also shoot a little more 3’s than the average team.

The Panthers have struggled on defense this season against better opposition

While Pitt is inside the top 100 of adjusted defensive efficiency on the season, they have had several rough games against quality opponents. In their last five games against top-100 foes, the Panthers have allowed their opponents to register a raw offensive efficiency of at least 108.7 points per 100 possessions.

Their lack of interior size may be the cause, as four of those five opponents shot at least 60 percent on 2-point field goal attempts. Clemson, who went 23-for-40 (57.5 percent) against Syracuse in the conference opener, riddled Pittsburgh inside by making 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) 2’s last Saturday. While the Orange have become gradually less effective inside the arc over the course of the season, Donnie Freeman’s return to health could help reverse that trend.

Freeman and his Orange teammates will need to assert themselves inside on offense and protect the 3-point line on defense. While the Panthers have had most of a week to prepare for the game, SU is looking to build off a road win and should have the interior game to make it happen.

Syracuse 71, Pittsburgh 69.

SUPPORT THE JUICE ONLINE

For more discussion on Syracuse athletics, visit our free Syracuse Orange discussion forum.