Syracuse (13-7, 6-3 Atlantic Coast) looks to build on five-straight wins with a matchup against Clemson (10-9, 4-5) Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum. After a slow start to the season, the Orange are rolling into a weekend matchup with No. 9 Duke after defeating Pittsburgh last Saturday.

Here’s what to know about Clemson ahead of the matchup.

All-time series: Clemson leads, 5-4

Last time they played: Syracuse suffered one of its worst losses of the season last year in a 12-point loss to Clemson on March 9, 2019. It was the final game of the regular season for SU, and the Orange failed to secure their 20th win. Oshae Brissett led SU in scoring with 15 points.

The Clemson report: The Tigers beat Duke. And perhaps that’s the only glaring thing that the Orange need to know about them. Clemson isn’t a great 3-point shooting team and operates most efficiently inside the arc. Syracuse dominated a team like that in Pittsburgh a few days ago. However, the Tigers do like to shoot the 3 and get 36.8% of their points from beyond the arc, per KenPom. 

This has led to great performances and also a question as to whether or not you will catch the Tigers on a good shooting day. Against the Blue Devils, they converted 42.1% of their 3-point attempts. That’s 1o points higher than Clemson’s typical game average. The Tigers are streaky, but they can score and play defense on the other end.

How Syracuse beats the Tigers: Shoot and play defense. The Orange hit 9.2 3-pointers per game, which is the highest per game average in team history. In recent memory, it’s hard to think of some dominant 3-point shooting Syracuse teams, but they’ve certainly had their fair share of shooters in its long history. The Orange can score quickly and efficiently, and it’s probably the strength of the team.

But the shooting generally emerges in the presence of defense. Jim Boeheim said a few games ago that we wouldn’t see this SU team run, but in recent games transition has actually been great or at least appears that way. SU gets open 3-pointers in transition and are hard to come back from for an opposing team, especially off a turnover. That’s sort of how Clemson beat Duke, so why not Syracuse show them an even better version.

Stat to know: No. 3 — Duke’s ranking when they were upset by the Tigers.

KenPom odds: The Orange have a 48% chance to win the game, with a final score prediction of 68-67 per KenPom.

Player to watch: Aamir Simms, No. 25, Forward

Clemson does not have a dominant player, but Simms is close to it. The 6-foot-8 forward has great size and shooting ability and leads the team in rebounds and blocks. He’ll be a threat from everywhere for Syracuse on Tuesday.

Published on January 27, 2020 at 11:57 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary