Syracuse (19-11, 10-7 Atlantic Coast) enters its regular-season finale coming off a blowout loss to No. 2 Virginia. Clemson (18-12, 8-9), on the other hand, just edged Notre Dame by one score on Wednesday. When these teams met earlier this season, the Orange won, 61-53.

Here’s what our beat writers expect to happen Saturday.

Billy Heyen (23-7)
Points at a premium
Syracuse 61, Clemson 57

The first meeting of these teams was a defensive battle, and that should hold true this time around. The Orange and Tigers are both much better defensively than offensively, so whichever team has someone that gets hot might hold the edge. I’ll put my cards in on Tyus Battle or Elijah Hughes getting hotter than Clemson’s Marcquise Reed, and with points at a premium, one player catching fire should be just enough to close the regular season off with a win.

Charlie DiSturco (21-9)
Tiger Bite
Clemson 63, Syracuse 58

Syracuse has been unable to string together two good halves against good ACC teams in a couple weeks, and Clemson is a team on the NCAA Tournament bubble, hungry for another boost to its resume. The Tigers struggled to break the 2-3 zone earlier in the year, but seeing it for a second time should make things easier. This will be a defensive battle throughout, but in its last home game of the year, I see Clemson pulling away late on the backs of Marcquise Reed and Elijah Thomas.

Matthew Gutierrez (18-12)
Football in March
Syracuse 66, Clemson 63

Love to see two football teams go out with spring on the horizon. I think Syracuse is a lock for the NCAA Tournament, and no result Saturday will change that. But a win could help SU’s seeding in the tournament. The Tigers barely beat Notre Dame this week, and I think Syracuse has been tested enough over the past two weeks to beat an unranked ACC team on the road.

Published on March 8, 2019 at 1:33 pm