Syracuse, N.Y. -- The ACC released its men’s basketball schedule Thursday night, which means we learned specifics about Syracuse’s conference schedule.
The Orange opens its season Nov. 9 with a home game against Lafayette of the Patriot League. It plays Virginia Commonwealth in the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 24. It faces Indiana in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Nov. 30. It plays Villanova in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 7.
We knew about those games.
On Thursday night, we learned more about the rest of the SU schedule.
One item stands out: The Orange plays Duke twice this season, Jan. 22 in Cameron Indoor and Feb. 26 in the Carrier Dome. This season, of course, will be Mike Krzyzewski’s final year as the Blue Devils’ head coach. It will be interesting to see what Syracuse does for him on his last visit to the Dome. His friendship with Jim Boeheim is one of the more enduring relationships in the ACC.
A couple of other tidbits: Syracuse plays Virginia at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Day in the Carrier Dome. (Note the game time, New Year’s Eve celebrants.) And Florida State hosts Syracuse on Dec. 4 in the teams’ first conference game of the season. The Orange did not play the Seminoles last year because of Covid complications. The teams are scheduled to play twice in 2021-22.
The Orange returns its starting backcourt from a season ago in Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard. Boeheim blew up in the postseason when he became a bonafide volume scorer. SU lost its best rebounder and inside scorer Quincy Guerrier (he’s at Oregon) and dynamic freshman guard Kadary Richmond (Seton Hall) to the transfer portal. Woody Newton (Oklahoma State) and Robert Braswell (Charlotte) went the way of the transfer portal, too. The Orange does not play any of those teams this season.
To compensate, SU added Cole Swider (Villanova), Symir Torrence (Marquette) and Jimmy Boeheim (Cornell). The Orange plays Villanova on Dec. 7 in Madison Square Garden for the Jimmy V Classic, and it meets Cornell on Dec. 21 inside the Carrier Dome. (Cornell did not play at all last season after the Ivy League scrapped its basketball year because of Covid-19 concerns.) The Orange also added Benny Williams, one of the more coveted high school prospects in the nation last season.
Syracuse figures to rely on its perimeter prowess this season and expects to get good minutes out of Jesse Edwards, a returning junior center who showed so much promise by the end of last season. Bourama Sidibe took advantage of the NCAA’s extra year (because of Covid-19) to come back to SU. He missed nearly all of last season with a knee injury.
Here’s the complete 2021-22 men’s basketball schedule:
Wed., Oct. 27: PACE (exhibition) TBD Carrier Dome
Mon., Nov. 1: LE MOYNE (exhibition) TBD Carrier Dome
Tues., Nov. 9: LAFAYETTE TBD Carrier Dome
Sun., Nov. 14: DREXEL TBD Carrier Dome
Sat., Nov. 20: COLGATE TBD Carrier Dome
Wed., Nov. 24: Battle For Atlantis vs. VCU 5 p.m. Imperial Arena ESPN2
Thurs., Nov. 25: Battle For Atlantis vs. Ariz. State/Baylor 5/7:30 p.m. Imperial Arena ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU
Fri., Nov. 26: Battle For Atlantis vs. Auburn/Conn./Loyola-Chicago/Michigan State TBD Imperial Arena ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU
Tues., Nov. 30: Big 10/ACC Challenge vs. INDIANA TBD Carrier Dome
Sat., Dec. 4: at Florida State 4 p.m. Tucker Civic Center ESPN2
Tues., Dec. 7: Jimmy V Classic vs Villanova 9 p.m. Madison Square Garden ESPN
Sat., Dec. 11: at Georgetown TBD Capital One Arena
Sat., Dec. 18: LEHIGH TBD Carrier Dome
Tues., Dec. 21: CORNELL TBD Carrier Dome
Wed., Dec. 29: GEORGIA TECH 7 p.m. Carrier Dome RSN
Sat., Jan. 1: VIRGINIA 8 p.m. Carrier Dome ACCN
Wed., Jan. 5: at Miami 8 p.m. Watsco Center ACCN
Sat., Jan. 8: at Wake Forest 2 p.m. LJVM Coliseum RSN
Tues., Jan. 11: PITTSBURGH 7 p.m. Carrier Dome ESPNU
Sat., Jan. 15: FLORIDA STATE TBD Carrier Dome ESPN2/U
Tues., Jan. 18: CLEMSON 8 p.m. Carrier Dome ACCN
Sat., Jan. 22: at Duke noon Cameron Indoor ESPN/2
Tues., Jan. 25: at Pittsburgh 8 p.m. Petersen Events Center ACCN
Sat., Jan. 29: WAKE FOREST 6 p.m. Carrier Dome ACCN
Wed., Feb. 2: at NC State 9 p.m. PNC Arena ESPN2/U
Sat., Feb. 5: LOUISVILLE TBD Carrier Dome ESPN/2/U
Tues., Feb. 8: at Boston College 8 p.m. Conte Forum ACCN
Sat., Feb. 12: at Virginia Tech TBD Cassell Coliseum ESPN2/U
Sat., Feb. 19: BOSTON COLLEGE TBD Carrier Dome ESPN2/U
Tues., Feb. 22: at Notre Dame TBD Purcell Pavilion ESPN/2
Sat., Feb. 26: DUKE TBD Carrier Dome ESPN/2
Mon., Feb. 28: at North Carolina 7 p.m. Smith Center ESPN
Sat., March 5: MIAMI TBD Carrier Dome ESPN2/U/ACCN
Tues., March 8: Start of ACC Tournament, Brooklyn, N.Y. TBD Barclays Center
Contact Donna Ditota anytime: Email | Twitter
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