After a thrilling upset of No. 3 North Carolina on Tuesday night in Chapel Hill, Clemson will look to do something it hasn’t done all season when it takes the floor at Syracuse Saturday at noon — win back-to-back games in conference play.
The Tigers (15-7 overall, 5-6 ACC) received a big shot in the arm, to say nothing of a huge boost to their NCAA Tournament résumé, with their 80-76 victory over the Tar Heels this week. Clemson currently is ranked 24th in strength of schedule by ESPN and has Quad 1 wins over Carolina, Pitt, Alabama, and TCU.
But the Tigers haven’t won back to back games since December and have struggled with consistency since ACC play resumed on January 3, something that head coach Brad Brownell alluded to after the victory over North Carolina.
“I’ve said a couple of times that I think we’re playing better than our ACC record. But we are what our record says we are, so we’ve got to finish some games,” Brownell said. “Our guys have really hung in there. They’ve battled and stayed pretty positive. They’re working hard in practice every day. We just haven’t had many good results.”
Clemson can change that with a win against a Syracuse team that’s had similar results in conference action. The Orange (15-8 overall, 6-6 ACC) have also struggled with consistency in Adrian Autry’s first season since the retirement of legendary coach Jim Boeheim.
Syracuse is led in scoring by sophomore Judah Mintz, who averages 18.3 points per game and had 21 in the team’s 94-92 victory over Louisville earlier this week. JJ Starling averages 13 points per game and has been more of a factor of late. Chris Bell (formerly Chris Bunch) is coming off a career-high 30-point showing for Syracuse.
For Clemson, PJ Hall has been the Tigers’ rock all season. His points-per-game average is up to 20 after a team-high 25 points in Tuesday’s win at Chapel. Hall has had seven games of 25 points or more this season .
Joe Girard is averaging 15 points per game and had 21 against UNC, including five 3-pointers.
Series Notes and Recent History
Clemson leads the all-time head to head series with Syracuse, 8-6. All but two of those meetings have occurred since the Orange joined the ACC in 2013-14. The Tigers won the last meeting between the two schools, 91-73, in February of last year at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson hasn’t won at Syracuse since 2016.
How To Watch
Here’s a look at how and where Clemson fans can watch, listen, and stream Saturday’s game.
Date: Saturday, Feb. 10
Time: 12 p.m. EST
Where: JMA Wireless Dome (Carrier Dome)
TV Channel: ESPN2
Live Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | TuneIn App | SiriusXM (Channel 381)
Broadcast Teams
ESPN2: Jay Alter, Malcolm Huckaby
Clemson Radio: Don Munson, Jim Davis