Syracuse (10-5, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) gets its third shot at its first conference win at the Carrier Dome against Clemson (8-6, 1-1) on Tuesday. Interim head coach Mike Hopkins and the Orange could push his record to 5-4 in his last game as SU’s head coach for the time being.

Here’s how our beat writers think the game will unfold.

Sam Blum (11-4)
Clemson 72, Syracuse 63
Oh no

Syracuse has reason to panic. It’s played well against Pittsburgh and Miami in conference, but has shown that its underlying weaknesses can take over against better teams. Clemson probably isn’t a better team, but things are getting bad quickly for the Orange while the Tigers are coming off an upset win over Florida State. This once promising Syracuse season is starting to get out of hand, and it will be time to press the panic button after an 0-3 start to ACC play.

Jesse Dougherty (11-4)
Syracuse 67, Clemson 62
The difference a sport makes

While Clemson football is preparing for the National Championship game, its basketball team will help Syracuse to its first Atlantic Coast Conference win after losses to now-No. 12 Miami and now-No. 24 Pittsburgh last week. The Tigers convincingly beat Florida State over the weekend, but seem to be a slightly worse version of the Orange. Both teams shoot a lot of 3s, protect the rim well defensively and have tight rotations, but Syracuse has a bit more talent and will ride its backcourt to a victory.

Matt Schneidman (10-5)
Syracuse 66, Clemson 60
Poached

Clemson has nine players that average more than 10 minutes per game so this will be no cakewalk. The Tigers are coming off a nine-point win over previously 10-2 Florida State and the catalysts from Clemson’s 13-point win against Syracuse last year return. But Malachi Richardson is catching fire at the right time and Michael Gbinije rebounds from his worst performance of the season to get Mike Hopkins a much-needed conference win to close out his rocky stint as SU’s interim head coach.

Published on January 4, 2016 at 11:05 pm