Syracuse Basketball Vs No. 10 Virginia Tech: How to Watch and Listen
By Josh Peelman
The Syracuse Basketball team plays their 20th game of the season against No. 10 Virginia Tech Saturday evening. Inside The Loud House tells you how you can catch the game.
Syracuse basketball is flying high after three straight wins over Duke, Pittsburgh and Miami (FL). In those three wins the offense has really played well, and the defense is holding teams to lower scores than what they usually produce. Now, the Orange have another true test lined up in No. 10 Virginia Tech on the road.
The last time the Orange beat a ranked team was just over a week ago on the road at then No. 1 ranked Duke. So why should this game be any tougher when you’ve already beaten the best? For one, that Duke team was shorthanded (of sorts) without freshman point guard Tre Jones who was injured early in the game, leaving behind two other fabulous freshmen to carry the load.
Secondly, Coach K has only played SU a number of times. Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech’s head coach knows the Orange all too well having played SU year after year when he coached at Marquette in the old Big East. So if anyone knows how to beat us, it’s Buzz. However, the Orange are 5-1 against Virginia Tech since Syracuse basketball joined the ACC, and are 4-1 against Buzz Williams since he joined Virginia Tech, according to Orangehoops.org. Syracuse won last year’s mathcup, 68-56 at home.
When Williams took over as coach at Virginia Tech, Syracuse fans knew it would always be a battle whenever we face him. He knows the Orange 2-3 tries to force threes and use their length to cause turnovers. So what does he do, he trains his team to work the ball in the middle of the zone and also get easy scores and dunks on the baseline. That combination has really hurt Syracuse in recent matchups against Marquette and Virginia Tech.
Now that the Hokies boast a team with as much, if not more talent than Syracuse, they are ranked 10th in the nation overall and are playing great basketball this year. Their defense is outstanding as it has great length at all five positions which has forced teams into a lot of turnovers. The Orange will be tested in this one as they seem to just have figured out what works well on offense in recent games. Let’s hope the Hokies do not mess up the Orange’s rhythm.
The Hokies are led on offense by three outstanding guards. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is averaging 18.3 points per game, according to ESPN, while his running mate Justin Robinson is averaging 13.1 points and 5.4 assists per game. In addition they also have Senior guard Ahmed Hill who is averaging 13.2 points per game as well. That three-headed monster make it easy for the Hokies to run up the score. Inside the Hokies have 6-foot-10 Junior forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. who can block shots on one end and take and make high quality looks at the other. He adds another 13.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game to an already amazing lineup.
The Orange matchup up with an equally talented guard rotation with Tyus Battle, Elijah Hughes, and Frank Howard. All three can take a game over either by distributing or scoring the ball. The Orange don’t have much power scoring inside, but at least have capable defenders in Paschal Chukwu and Bourama Sidibe. Hopefully those two along with Oshae Brissett and Marek Dolezaj can help offset a Hokies team who is playing at a very high level.
If the Orange want to win this tough game in primetime on the road they will need to score and score in bunches. In addition, the defense will have to play tight and make sure the guards don’t have room to drive very much and keep them from distributing along the baseline or the corners for open threes. If the Orange can do that, this game could be close and will give the Orange a chance to steal another big signature win. However, it will once again take an outstanding performance from the entire team in order to pull it off as Virginia tech is no slouch.
So what you’re probably wondering is will the game be televised? The answer is yes it will be in primetime no less on ESPN at 8:00 p.m. ET. Better yet, some of you can also view the game on streaming devices or online on the WatchESPN app or ESPN3.com, according to Syracuse.com. The game, as always though can be heard online under the listen tab at Cuse.com or locally on the radio on Syracuse’s IMG Sports Network: 99.5 FM/105 FM. For all other game details, check out the info below:
Game Info
Who’s Playing: Syracuse (14-5, 5-1 ACC) and Virginia Tech (15-3, 4-2 ACC)
Where: Carrier Dome
Rivalry: 9-3, Syracuse leads all-time series, according to Orangehoops.org
When: Saturday, January 26th at 8:00 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN
Online Stream: Watch ESPN/ESPN3.com
Radio: 99.5 FM/105 FM (TK-99), WAER 88.3 FM, and Cuse.com
Up Next for Syracuse: Wednesday, January 30th at Boston College
Next. Syracuse Basketball: Top 30 Players in School History. dark