Twenty-three days after their first meeting in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers and Orange meet again in Syracuse for an ACC showdown Monday night at the Dome. Both teams face a short two-day turnaround with a short rest after playing Saturday night, with Syracuse having a home-court advantage but not as the Orange played Saturday night at Virginia Tech. , both teams had to move in between. Virginia is looking to complete his sweep of the season against Syracuse and extend the winning streak to his seven games.
Read on for a full preview of Virginia at Syracuse, including game details, opponent scouting reports, game notes, and score predictions.
game details
Who: Virginia Cavaliers (16-3, 8-2 ACC) vs Syracuse Orange (13-9, 6-5 ACC)
when: Monday, January 30, 7:00 PM ET
Where: JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York
How to watch: ESPN
Streaming method: fuboTV (start free trial)
How to listen: SiriusXM 48, SXM App 84 | Virginia Sports Radio Network – Click here for affiliate
Full time series: Virginia leads 12-6
Final meeting: Virginia defeated Syracuse 73-66 on January 7, 2023 at the John Paul Jones Arena.
Opponent Scouting Report: Syracuse
2022-2023: 13-9, 6-5 ACC
Notable results: Illinois 73-44 L, Notre Dame 62-61 W, Pittsburgh 84-82 L, Boston College 79-65 W, Louisville 70-69 W, Virginia 73-66 L, Virginia Tech 82-72 W, Miami 82- 78 L, NC 72-68 L, Virginia Tech 85-70 L
When Virginia and Syracuse played their first game of the season in Charlottesville on Jan. 7, the Oranges had won 7 of their last 8 games and were 3-1 in ACC games. UVA defeated Syracuse 73-66 in that matchup to secure a wire-to-wire victory. Futh knocked down 12 3-pointers, including four 3s each from Aaman Franklin and Isaac McNeely. With this win, Tony Bennett became his coach with the most wins in the history of his UVA men’s basketball program. Virginia also led by his 23 points and looked well on their way to an explosive second-half win, but his 19 points from Joe Girard III and his 18 points from Judah Mintz gave him a 19-point lead. Behind, Orange rallied and let the Cavaliers score his 7. Earn points at the end.
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Virginia used that win to start a six-game winning streak and stay active heading into Monday night’s matchup. Since then, the Cavaliers have had victories against North Carolina, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, and Boston College, and are currently sitting. Just one game back from Clemson in the losing row of the ACC standings. Syracuse, on the other hand, has gone 3-3 since then, where he has lost 3 in 4 games. The Orange concentrated on three points in a lopsided 85-70 loss at Virginia Tech on Saturday after dropping several tight 4-point decisions to Miami and North Carolina.
Now Syracuse is starting to run out of time to push for the NCAA Tournament. With six weeks left until Selection Sunday, Orange finds himself just outside the field in the expected march of Madness. Syracuse’s schedule has plenty of winning opportunities to make a resume, including games against North Carolina State, Duke, Clemson, Pittsburgh and Wake his Forrest, but Jim his Boheim and Orange will be on Monday night. was upset by the Cavaliers.
Syracuse continues to rely primarily on the big three of Joe Girard III, Judah Mintz and Jesse Edwards, with Girard and Mintz running the backcourt and Edwards pushing things into the paint on either side of the floor. . Girard leads Syracuse with his 17.0 points and his 3.3 assists per game, and has a 38.2% three-shooting percentage. Mintz continues his stellar freshman season averaging 15.2 points and 4.5 assists per game. Jesse Edwards is averaging a double-double with 13.4 points per game and his 10.4 rebounds, but he’s struggled with Virginia in his career, and the trend has continued in his first season in Charlottesville. The meeting continued. Edwards then bounced back with four straight games scoring in double figures, including a 25-point performance in Miami. The key question in this matchup is what level of play will the Oranges get from the starting center on Monday night?
In their first matchup against UVA, Syracuse had solid bench production from two Virginia natives. Malik Brown (Culpeper) had his 10 points and he had eight rebounds, and Justin Taylor (Charlottesville) added his seven points and two steals. Orange needs to score more from players other than Girard and Mintz if they want to beat the Cavaliers. Syracuse could look to Brown, Taylor and Simir Torrence from the bench, or Edwards and his 6.9-inch freshman forward Chris Bell (6.9 points) from the starting lineup. 6’9″ sophomore Benny Williams missed his first game in Virginia due to illness. Williams has started all but two games for Orange this season, averaging 6.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3 points per game. Shooting from range is 37.0%, and with Benny Williams on the floor alone, this matchup could be very different in Round 2.
Virginia analyzed the Syracuse zone in the first meeting, with Kihei Clark and Reese Beekman winning the ball in center, cutting the Syracuse defense into 11 assists for Clark and 7 for Beekman. teammate. Whether Syracuse makes an adjustment to their defense and UVA can knock down his 3-pointers as effectively as last time as the Cavaliers put him at 46.2% (12/26) over the arc. It would be interesting to see if
The Oranges were also able to give them better chances this time around by handling the ball better. I turned the ball. Virginia scored his 23 points from these turnovers, including 19 haste points. That’s an amazing number for his UVA team, which is known for its slow pace of play. The Cavaliers were able to win Round 1 in Charlottesville by having a high level of offensive success against both the set Syracuse defense and transition. Syracuse need to adjust and improve their defense to have a better chance in the rematch.
game notes
- Virginia has led every series since Orange joined the ACC, 12-6 against Syracuse, including a 10-2 advantage.
- UVA has won all of its last four meetings with Syracuse.
- Virginia is 5-2 against Syracuse in the JMA Wireless Dome (formerly the Career Dome), winning its last four games in Syracuse.
- Tony Bennett holds an 11-3 record against Syracuse as head coach.
- Virginia is 8-2 and is second in the ACC standings, while Syracuse is tied for eighth with 6-5.
- Virginia is 6-2 away from Charlottesville this season and 4-2 on the true road.
- Kihei-Clark is seven starts away from becoming Virginia’s all-time leader in games started and 34 assists away from passing John Crotty for most career assists in UVA program history.
predict
Given how important the three-point shot is when facing the Syracuse zone defense, a key storyline in this matchup will be whether the Cavaliers can replicate their perimeter shot success from the first meeting in a rematch at the Dome. am. But as Virginia has shown at various times throughout the season, especially during its current winning streak, this team is very capable of finding other ways to score even if the three-pointers aren’t falling. With Beekman’s experience acting as a zone buster in the middle of Syracuse’s defense, the Cavaliers should be able to find a way to win away and maintain positive momentum as the calendar turns into February.
Score predictions: Virginia 77, Syracuse 71
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