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Syracuse followed up its biggest win of the season over then-No. 23 NC State with a 77-55 loss to Duke on Saturday night. The Orange had their inside game completely closed down by the Blue Devils. Aside from a solid run in the middle of the first half, they quickly fell behind due to a 21-2 run to end the first half and never recovered. Now, they head to Clemson for the first of two straight road games against the Tigers and Pittsburgh — two of the top teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Joe Girard III continued his cold slide against the Blue Devils, while Jesse Edwards was shut down inside against Dereck Lively and Kyle Filipowski. Though Judah Mintz led the charge with 18 points, there was hardly enough help against the Blue Devils. Clemson, meanwhile, has lost four out of its last five games after bursting out to an 18-4 start, including a 10-1 record in the ACC.

Here is what our beat writers project will happen Wednesday night against the Tigers:

Anish Vasudevan (20-7)
Zero offense
Clemson 65, Syracuse 60

Looks like Anthony and I were big “Go Orange” guys last week, thinking that Syracuse could surprise everyone with a second straight strong performance. But Duke’s defense was nothing like NC State’s, rendering Edwards obsolete and SU’s forwards a nonfactor. Now, there’s only a little time for the Orange to regroup before two more challenging matchups.

Clemson isn’t as scary as Duke. The Tigers had one of the strongest starts to the season in the country, including a 10-1 run to begin ACC play, but they’ve lost four of their last five games. While the Orange hung around with North Carolina, Clemson lost by 10. It couldn’t defeat Boston College (13-15, 7-10 ACC) or Louisville (4-24, 2-15 ACC) either, two teams SU came out on top of.

Still, the game will depend on if Syracuse can score the basketball. Head coach Jim Boeheim said the Orange showed nothing offensively against the Blue Devils, who are the second-best defense in the ACC. The Tigers have the third-best scoring defense in the conference and will most likely have a concrete plan to stop Edwards and Girard. I don’t think Chris Bell, Justin Taylor or Benny Williams will do enough on the road to keep Syracuse in this. The Tigers have only lost once at home this season.

Connor Smith (23-4)
Bouncing back
Syracuse 77, Clemson 70

The Orange turned in one of their worst performances of the season against Duke, barely looking competitive in the second half. The loss showed how SU’s 2-3 zone and full-court press can be thoroughly dissected, and once again, how the lack of production from Edwards is something Syracuse’s offense can’t overcome.

Next, there’s Clemson, which just a month ago looked like a tough road trip. Since, though, the Tigers have stumbled from their post as the ACC’s top dog, and have lost four of their past five games — including against lowly Louisville by 10 points on Saturday. Clemson also lost to Boston College just a few weeks ago, and like Syracuse, is in desperate need of a win on Wednesday night.

The Tigers are a good shooting team — ranking fourth in the ACC in 3-point shooting percentage — and also average 75 points per game. That alone makes me want to pick them to win at home, but their lack of offensive rebounding strength (338th nationally in that category, per KenPom) will leave them with plenty of one-and-done possessions. Edwards is going to have to battle inside with PJ Hall, and Syracuse is going to have to limit leading scorer Chase Hunter. In the end, I see the Orange doing enough to pick up a road win over a struggling Clemson team.

Anthony Alandt (18-9)
Tigers purr loudly
Clemson 77, Syracuse 70

Syracuse fell flat against Duke on Saturday night. The Blue Devils took away Edwards’ shots inside the paint, and ran away to a huge win. Boeheim can complain about rebounding from his forwards after every game this season, but until they actually start rebounding, this team isn’t going to win big games. Williams, Bell and Taylor can try, but they aren’t ACC forwards, and that’s clear at this point in the season.

I expect Clemson, who had at one time, propelled itself to the top of the conference, to use an attack centered around Hall to stifle the Orange. His offensive rebounding rate of 7.8% and a defensive rebounding rate of 18.5% ensure that the Tigers — like Duke — are going to succeed collecting boards that Syracuse wishes it was able to. Couple that with the 74th-ranked 3-point shooting team and the 61st-ranked 2-point shooting season, and Clemson should have an easy time cleaning up the Orange.

Published on February 21, 2023 at 9:39 pm