After losing at home to North Carolina State, Syracuse (17-9, 6-7 Atlantic Coast) to take on a Miami (18-7, 7-6) with plenty of offensive weapons. The Hurricanes hosted No. 1 Virginia on Tuesday and lost, 59-50. But with just five games remaining in both teams’ ACC schedules and within one win of each other in-conference, the Orange and Miami have plenty to play for when Saturday’s game tips off at noon.

See how our beat writers think the matchup will play out.

Matthew Gutierrez (22-4)
Hurricane Season in February
Miami 70, Syracuse 55

As Sam soaks up the South Florida sun, there’s a decent chance Syracuse loses each of its last five games. Several signs point to that beginning at Miami this weekend. With its frontcourt now in a flux, Syracuse’s identity has not differed much from three main scorers and a strong defense that struggles at times defending the outside. The latter was evident early in the year, even against Colgate. Stopping the 3-point shot is a glaring weakness for SU and, when combined with an injury-depleted frontcourt, it becomes difficult to suspect SU will come out with a win against a good Miami team on the road.

Sam Fortier (19-7)
A Bay Bay
Miami 68, Syracuse 61

The Hurricanes and Orange are about even in terms of defense, but Miami can really shoot the ball and that, at home, gives them enough of an advantage to pick them comfortably in this game. Led by 5-foot-7 freshman point guard Chris Lykes, the Hurricanes have 67 or more points in all but three conference games. UM surrounds Lykes with four capable scoring options and some nice complementary length. The one thing about UM: They are one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the nation, hitting 66.4 percent from the stripe. If the Orange can make it a contest there down the stretch, there’s a chance for SU. But even still, Miami might have too much offense.

Tomer Langer (18-8)
U are done
Miami 65, Syracuse 59

Syracuse’s loss to N.C. State on Wednesday night stings, particularly because SU played fairly well. Now, it’s put a damper on the hope this team showed one week earlier. The narrative throughout the ACC this year has been about how difficult it is to win on the road in conference. And even in last year’s disappointing campaign, Syracuse only lost one ACC home game. But the loss to the Wolfpack was SU’s third ACC loss in the Carrier Dome this year. One came against a powerhouse in Virginia, but then there’s this most recent one to the Wolfpack and a still-inexplicable loss to a Notre Dame team missing its two best players. Now, the Orange has to play UM. The only teams to beat the Hurricanes in Miami are Virginia and then-No. 5 Duke. SU isn’t in the same class as those teams, so give me Miami in this one.

Published on February 16, 2018 at 5:14 pm