Freeman leads Syracuse against Pittsburgh after 27-point game

By Canadian Press on January 9, 2026.

Syracuse Orange (10-5, 1-1 ACC) at Pittsburgh Panthers (7-8, 0-2 ACC)

Pittsburgh; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Syracuse plays Pittsburgh after Donnie Freeman scored 27 points in Syracuse’s 82-72 win against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

The Panthers are 6-4 on their home court. Pittsburgh scores 73.3 points while outscoring opponents by 4.6 points per game.

The Orange are 1-1 in conference games. Syracuse leads the ACC allowing just 65.3 points per game while holding opponents to 39.6% shooting.

Pittsburgh makes 45.5% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.9 percentage points higher than Syracuse has allowed to its opponents (39.6%). Syracuse scores 5.5 more points per game (74.2) than Pittsburgh gives up (68.7).

The Panthers and Orange match up Saturday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Damarco Minor is shooting 41.7% from beyond the arc with 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Panthers, while averaging 11.1 points, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals. Barry Dunning Jr. is shooting 53.5% and averaging 15.1 points over the past 10 games.

Nate Kingz is shooting 31.9% from beyond the arc with 1.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Orange, while averaging 9.7 points. JJ Starling is shooting 39.3% and averaging 11.4 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 3-7, averaging 73.6 points, 29.0 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 7.1 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.4 points per game.

Orange: 6-4, averaging 71.3 points, 31.9 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 5.9 steals and 7.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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