Syracuse Basketball: Orange must contain perimeter to upset Virginia Tech

The Syracuse basketball squad faces a monumental task when it travels to No. 10 Virginia Tech this weekend for an entertaining ACC clash.

The SU hoops outfit lit up the Carrier Dome from downtown on Thursday evening in a 20-point crushing of Miami. The ‘Cuse may have to experience a repeat performance if it wants to conquer No. 10 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., on Saturday night.

Syracuse (14-5, 5-1) is in a groove. It has won three in a row, and seven of its last eight, which has propelled the Orange into a tie with four other crews for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

The Hokies (15-3, 4-2), under the guidance of their extremely animated head coach, Buzz Williams, have remained in the top 10 of the AP top-25 poll for much of the 2018-19 campaign. They’re a talented group to say the least, and VT is quite difficult to defeat at Cassell Coliseum, where it is 10-0 so far in the present stanza.

Virginia Tech possesses a solid, but not spectacular, resume to date. The Hokies own neutral-site victories versus Purdue and Washington, which is led by former SU assistant Mike Hopkins. VT’s three setbacks are all on the road: to Penn State by one point, along with blowout losses to highly rated Virginia and North Carolina.

Currently, the Hokies are slotted at No. 11 in the NCAA NET rankings, while the ‘Cuse is much further down the list, at No. 50. With that as a backdrop, it’s abundantly clear that the Orange will have its hands full in this match-up. At the same time, Saturday’s duel affords Syracuse an opportunity to conquest a top-10 foe away from the Hill.

Virginia Tech is an offensive juggernaut, generating about 79 points a game while connecting on 50 percent from the field, 76 percent from the free-throw line, and an outstanding 42 percent from beyond the arc. What’s more, four guys on the Hokies roster average at least 13 points per contest.

One might assume that such an offensive machine would probably not fare as well on defense. Wrong. VT only allows 62 points every 40 minutes, which is slightly better than SU’s vaunted 2-3 zone.

Now, the Orange does hold advantages in rebounds, blocks and steals. The ‘Cuse has to control the glass, create turnovers that result in easy baskets and, most importantly, cover the Hokies on the perimeter like it’s nobody’s business. Otherwise, Syracuse is in for a rough outing.

I don’t think it’s realistic for us to expect SU to shoot 3-pointers at the same ridiculous clip against Virginia Tech as it did versus the Hurricanes. Still, the Orange has to remain proficient from downtown, while driving to the hoop with aggression.

Beginning with the Hokies, the ‘Cuse is in the midst of three-straight road battles. That’s not ideal, I think it’s safe to say. Then again, during the 2018-19 term, Syracuse is 3-0 in hostile territory, so let’s see how SU responds over the next week.