After a 15-point victory over Miami on Wednesday, Syracuse (9-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) hosts Pittsburgh (12-3, 1-1) on Saturday at noon. The Panthers beat SU three times at three different locations last year and are coming off a 12-point overtime win over No. 11 Virginia on Wednesday.

Here’s everything you need to now about Pitt ahead of the matchup.

All-time series: Syracuse leads, 65-44

Last time they played: Pittsburgh squeezed out a 72-71 win in the second round of the ACC tournament, as Trevor Cooney missed a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to force Syracuse to sweat out its NCAA Tournament fate. Michael Gbinije led Syracuse with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while Malachi Richardson chipped in 13 and Dajuan Coleman scored 11. Cameron Johnson, who returns to this year’s team, led the Panthers with 24 points in the win.

The Panthers report: Pitt ranks 20th in the country in Kenpom.com’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating, and the Panthers average 82 points per game. Three rotation players hit over 50 percent of their shots and four average over 40 percent from behind the arc. Pittsburgh’s losses this year have come to Southern Methodist, Duquesne and a one-point defeat against then-No. 24 Notre Dame in its conference opener. The Panthers have one common opponent with Syracuse, Eastern Michigan, which took Pitt to double overtime in a season-opening 93-90 Pitt win.

While Syracuse’s most recent starting five consisted of four players not on last year’s team, Pittsburgh’s main lineup includes four seniors and a sophomore in Johnson. Jamel Artis, Chris Jones, Sheldon Jeter and Michael Young have faced the zone defense for several years now, and they know how to beat it. But gone from the old Big East rivalry is Jamie Dixon, who now coaches at Texas Christian while former Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings is at the Panthers’ helm now.

How Syracuse beats Pitt: Neutralize the high-post threat of Artis. Remember when Nigel Hayes dissected the zone for Wisconsin and almost recorded a triple-double in a 17-point win? Artis has the capability to do the same. Syracuse is coming off a game in which it shut off the entry pass to Miami’s Kamari Murphy at the foul line, for the most part, and look what happened. Doing so against the Panthers will be more challenging, but it’s the first step to preventing Pitt from slicing up the Orange defense that has been exposed more than not this season.

Stat to know:

12.9 – Pittsburgh forces turnovers on only 12.9 percent of opponent possessions, which ranks dead last (351st) in the country, per Kenpom.

Player to watch: Jamel Artis, forward, No. 1

The senior averages 21.4 points per game to go along with 5.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He can do it all and will be Syracuse’s toughest test on Saturday. Artis shoots almost 52 percent from the field and almost 46 percent from 3, so he’s more than capable of stepping out and hitting one over the top of the zone. Last year, Artis averaged 16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists in three games against the Orange.

Published on January 6, 2017 at 7:58 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman