Tuesday, March 25th, 7:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Carrier Dome (33,000) -- Syracuse, New York. Television: ESPN. NIT Record: UMass 8-11, Syracuse 14-12. Series Record: Syracuse leads, 8-6.

GAME NOTES: The top-seeded Syracuse Orange and the second-seeded Massachusetts Minutemen will meet in the Carrier Dome this evening, with the winner moving on to the NIT Final Four in New York City. The Orange dispatched the Maryland Terrapins in second-round action last Thursday, 88-72 to advance to the quarterfinals. The team opened tournament play with an 87-81 decision against Robert Morris. With the pair of wins, Syracuse moved to 21-13 on the season and 14-12 in NIT play all-time. The Minutemen have navigated the tournament field thus far with wins over Stephen F. Austin (80-60) and most recently, Akron (68-63). With the win over the Zips on Saturday, UMass moved to 23-10 this season and 8-11 in NIT action. The winner of this game will move on to take on the Arizona State/Florida winner in the semifinals next week. This is a rematch of one of the most memorable games this season. UMass posted a 107-100 victory over Syracuse back on November 28th, scoring the most points by any Syracuse opponent in the Carrier Dome. The Minutemen will be attempting to become the first team ever to post two wins over the Orange at the Carrier Dome in one season.

The Minutemen have won eight of their last nine games and the production from Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Gary Forbes and the A-10's Most Improved Player Ricky Harris is a big reason for the success. Forbes lit up the scoreboard this season, averaging nearly 20 points per game (19.8 ppg). He is much more than a potent scorer though, posting a team-high 7.7 rpg and also doling out 3.0 apg. Harris can fill up the basket as well, scoring 20 or more points on 16 occasions this season. He is averaging 17.9 ppg this year. The scoring deluge continues for UMass with Etienne Brower up front (12.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Chris Lowe in the backcourt (12.1 ppg, 6.1 apg). Harris led the offensive charge in the win over Akron, with 20 points. Lowe poured in 17 points, while dishing out five assists. Forbes pushed his streak of double figure efforts to 37 straight games, with an 11-point performance against the Zips.

The Orange certainly have the offensive firepower to counter anything the Minutemen throw at them. Syracuse is shooting a healthy .484 from the floor this year, resulting in an impressive 79.1 ppg. It starts with the play of freshman Donte Greene, who leads the team in scoring (17.7 ppg) and blocked shots (55) and ranks third in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Jonny Flynn is next in the scoring column at 15.7 ppg, followed by Paul Harris (14.7 ppg) and Arinze Onuaku (12.5 ppg). Harris and Onuaku form quite a rebounding tandem, harvesting 8.2 and 8.1 caroms per game, respectively. It was a complete team effort in the win over Maryland, as four players finished in double figures for Syracuse. Flynn had a strong game, finishing with 23 points and seven assists. Harris (19 points and 10 rebounds) and Onuaku (14 points and 14 rebounds) both posted double-doubles, while Greene tallied 16 points. The Orange shot a solid 50 percent from the floor in the game and amassed a whopping 21 assists overall.

The Minutemen were able to get the better of the Orange back in November in a memorable shootout. The statisticians are likely to earn their keep again in this one, as a similar high-scoring affair is almost a certainty. This time however, look for the Orange to get out to a fast start and hold on for the win.

Predicted Outcome

Syracuse 87, Massachusetts 83