Syracuse’s first regular-season game under Gerry McNamara now has a date, a place and an opponent.
The Orange will open the McNamara era against New Haven on Monday, Nov. 2 at the JMA Wireless Dome, SU announced Thursday on its social media platform. It will be McNamara’s first game back in the Dome as Syracuse’s head coach after two seasons leading Siena.
That opener comes with a little extra weight because Syracuse’s three exhibition games are all away from home, making New Haven the first chance for McNamara to guide the Orange in the Dome in a game that counts.
New Haven is coming off a 14-17 season in its first year at the Division I level. The Chargers are coached by Ted Hotaling, who has been in charge for 15 years, and they finished 9-9 in the Northeast Conference last season.
The matchup also helps fill in more of Syracuse’s non-conference slate. After New Haven, the Orange will host Central Connecticut State on Thursday, Nov. 5, then head to Indianapolis to face Indiana on Monday, Nov. 9.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that Syracuse will host Lafayette on Nov. 21 and play Albany on a date that has not yet been determined.
The schedule continues to take shape in December, when Syracuse visits Oklahoma for the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 1 and plays Providence at Boston’s TD Garden on Dec. 19.
Syracuse is also working on games against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden and Rutgers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Before the regular season begins, the Orange’s exhibition schedule includes Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn., Niagara at the HSBC Center in Buffalo and Siena in Albany.
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