Pittsburgh @ Syracuse preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2019 ) Syracuse 65, Pittsburgh 56

Pittsburgh earned its second win in a row to move on to the second round of the 2019 ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C., and faces Syracuse on Wednesday night. The 14th-seeded Panthers beat Boston College in their first-round game Tuesday, while the No. 6 seed Orange had an opening-round bye.

Pitt snapped a 13-game losing streak Saturday with a win over Notre Dame and made it two straight Tuesday evening by jumping out to a 15-point halftime lead and holding on for an 80-70 victory over BC. Freshmen guards Trey McGowens and Xavier Johnson led the Panthers in scoring against the Eagles with 26 and 23 points, respectively, as they each shot 7-of-14 from the field. Wednesday’s contest will be the third meeting of the season with Syracuse winning 74-63 at home Jan. 19 and 65-56 at Pitt on Feb. 2. The young Panthers struggled with the Orange’s 2-3 zone defense, shooting 33.8 percent and 31.6 percent from the field while turning the ball over a combined 28 times in the two previous meetings.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT PITTSBURGH (14-18): Senior guard Jared Wilson-Frame chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds against the Eagles, while junior forward Kene Chukwuka also grabbed nine boards. The Panthers stepped up their defense Tuesday evening, holding the Eagles to 35.6 percent shooting while winning the rebounding battle 42-35 and recording seven blocked shots. Pitt also held BC star Ky Bowman, the fourth-leading scorer in the ACC, to 3-of-10 shooting and will look to deliver a similar treatment to Tyus Battle on Wednesday.

ABOUT SYRACUSE (19-12): The Orange struggled to close out the season, losing four of their last five, with the most recent setback coming in a 67-55 loss at Clemson on Saturday. Syracuse built a nine-point lead at halftime against the Tigers but went cold in the second, shooting 33.3 percent as Clemson outscored the Orange by 19 after the break. Battle and Elijah Hughes, the team’s top two scorers at 17.2 and 13.4 points per game, will need to be better Wednesday after combining for 10 against Clemson

TIP-INS

1. Syracuse finished last in the ACC in free-throw shooting at 68.3 percent and Pitt finished in a tie for third-last at 69.4 percent.

2. Johnson and McGowens combined to go 19-of-26 from the free-throw line against BC.

3. Battle was named to the All-ACC third team, while Pitt’s Johnson made the All-ACC freshman team.

PREDICTION: Syracuse 75, Pittsburgh 67