CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Interstat) — A rematch of a one-point thriller will highlight the opening day of the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday when SMU faces Syracuse. The 12th-seeded Mustangs (19-12) and 13th-seeded Orange (14-16) meet at Spectrum Center just over three weeks after Syracuse escaped with a 79-78 home victory on Feb. 14. That result will be fresh in the minds of both teams as they fight to extend their seasons in the single-elimination tournament. Syracuse enters on a five-game losing streak, including a 71-69 overtime heartbreaker to Pittsburgh in its regular-season finale. The Orange have shown resilience, however, with four of those losses by 10 points or fewer. Their offense runs through guard Naithan George, who is coming off a 26-point effort against the Panthers and tallied 16 points and six assists in the win over SMU last month. The Mustangs have lost four straight, most recently a 91-78 defeat at Florida State. Despite the skid, SMU boasts a more potent overall record and is led by high-scoring guard Boopie Miller. He erupted for 32 points against the Seminoles and was a force in the previous meeting with Syracuse, finishing with 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds. The matchup pits two of the ACC’s top playmakers against one another. George has averaged 14.9 points and 5.4 assists over his last eight games, while Miller has averaged 20.6 points and 6.1 assists in the same span. Syracuse will need to replicate its defensive effort from the first meeting, where it held SMU to 41.4% shooting in the second half to secure the comeback win. The Mustangs will aim to leverage their superior record and recent high-scoring outputs from Miller to advance. The winner will advance to face fifth-seeded Wake Forest in the second round on Wednesday.