Syracuse vs. Virginia: College basketball game preview, TV schedule
Virginia and Syracuse are two teams going in opposite directions in the ACC. Can the Orange avoid a three-game slide or will Virginia snag another nice win?
TV schedule: Tuesday, Jan. 9, 8:00 p.m. ET. ACCNetwork
Arena: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia.
In the past week of the ACC, many top teams lost games, including Duke, North Carolina, Miami, and Florida State. One team that did not lose is Virginia 14-1 (3-0), who defeated rival Virginia Tech on the road before taking out the defending national champion Tar Heels.
On the defensive end, the No. 1 ranked team in points allowed continued their great play, giving up 52 and 49 points, respectively. Offensively, it was a balanced effort, with no player scoring more than 16 points in either game. Of course, when you only give up 50 points a game, the scoring part isn’t too much of an issue.
Syracuse 12-4 (1-2) is actually in the same situation as Virginia when it comes to defensive scoring, ranking in the top 20 with 62.2 ppg. Because the Orange plays only six guys a game, they play at a very slow pace and only score 70 ppg, good for the high 200s.
Head coach Jim Boeheim wished his team could’ve made it to 70 points in the past week, which would’ve helped them avoid a pair of bad losses. The first came at Wake Forest, who was reeling themselves. But that one could’ve been explained. But the home loss with a final score of 51-49 to a Notre Dame team without both Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell was just inexcusable.
Only three players for the Orange took more than four shots in the loss, with Oshae Brissett, Frank Howard and Tyus Battle combining for 15/39 shooting. If these three players can’t score well as the only offensive contributors, Syracuse has no shot to win.
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With a pair of road games against ranked teams coming this week, Orange fans are staring a four-game losing streak in the face. In order to avoid that, the offense must improve, or at least other players on the team contribute. This could be the worst matchup possible for Syracuse, and I’m not sure if the team will get much higher than 40 points.
Prediction: Virginia 57 – Syracuse 44