Syracuse Basketball Vs Virginia: How to Watch and Listen
By Josh Peelman
The Syracuse Basketball team plays their 30th game of the season against ACC opponent Virginia at home Monday night. Inside The Loud House lets, you know how you can watch and listen to the game.
Syracuse basketball has done just about how we expected in this ending stretch. They lost to Duke and North Carolina in close games back-to back and beat Wake Forest on the road by 25, 79-54, according to ESPN.com. With two games left the Orange want one more win to feel safe and secure in the field of 68: aka the NCAA tournament. Lucky for the ‘Cuse, No. 2 Virginia is up next at home in the Carrier Dome in front of a huge crowd, which will give the Orange a huge opportunity to do just that.
Virginia is flying high after going 26-2 this season, and 14-2 in ACC play, according to ESPN.com It’s only losses are to surprise, surprise: Duke. Other than those two losses, the Cavaliers have been winning games with terrific defense, and multiple guys contributing on offense.
The Cavaliers are coming off two excellent performances: a blowout home win over Pittsburgh, 73-49, and a 30-point home win over Georgia Tech, 81-51. Sure both Pitt and Georgia Tech are lousy this year, but to win by that margin and hold both teams to about 50 points tells you how stellar their defense is.
The Orange meanwhile are coming off a huge road win over ACC cellar dweller Wake Forest. Syracuse went on the road and took care of business destroying Wake by 25 led by Tyus Battle’s 21-point night. Time and time again the Syracuse defense came away with steals that led to points on the other end.
The zone forced multiple traps in the corner and tough shots from the outside. Overall, Syracuse’s 2-3 zone perhaps played its best game of the year against Wake Forest. That, in turn, led to a blowout win on the road in a league where road wins are hard to come by. If the Orange can continue to play at that level on defense the rest of the year, then Syracuse will be very hard to beat regardless of how well their offense plays.
Much like Syracuse, Virginia isn’t a team that wins games with their offense. They play a slow-paced game, much as Virginia Tech did at the Dome a few weeks ago when they beat us. They play tight and physical on the perimeter and close off driving lanes before you can drive the paint. This as you probably know forces teams to take a ton of outside shots. Sound familiar?
Syracuse’s 2-3 zone is very similar. It prevents driving lanes and forces outside shots. The Orange’s one flaw is that they often allow passes into the middle of the zone. That allows for either a quick kick out to an open shooter or a quick easy jump shot. In order to take advantage of that though, the opposing team must have a good mid-range jump shot player who can also pass pretty well. Lucky for the Cavaliers they have that.
The Cavaliers are led by 6-foot-7 guard De’Andre Hunter who really plays more like a shooting forward. He time and time again thrives from shooting from the middle of the paint. He doesn’t score a lot at just 15.2 points per game, but he gives the Cavaliers just enough scoring from the middle to give them an edge. In other words, he’s exactly the type of player Syracuse’s zone hates facing.
The good news is that the Orange have several forwards and guards they can throw at Hunter throughout the game who can step up at the three, four or five spots to block and alter shots should he receive a pass in the middle. If they can throw off his game even a little the Orange will have better odds in this one.
Sure Virginia is stellar defensively, but the fact they have a hard time scoring in a slow-paced game can come back to hurt them. Remember a few years ago in the NCAA tournament when the Syracuse basketball team was down by double digits late in the game against Virginia? They rallied by hitting tough shots outside with Malachi Richardson and then using that ability to hit from outside to open up driving lanes to the hoops.
Much like on football if you have a good run game it opens up your passing game, the same rule applies. If you force people to guard you harder on the perimeter someone gets left open eventually which leads to a driving lane or an easy score inside. The Orange can use this strategy to their benefit which may help pull the upset.
Will this game be easy for the Orange. Gosh heavens no! This game may be ugly with lots of missed three-point shots and a slow pace with little scoring. However, its the kind of game that benefits the Orange. They already don’t have a great offense, so they won’t have to get out an run to keep with the Cavaliers like they had to versus North Carolina. The Orange will only have to play possession by possession and hope they convert more than they miss.
In addition, the Syracuse basketball team should be backed by a large home crowd in what should be a great Senior Night. The fact it is Senior Night at the Dome will hopefully fuel the Orange’s seniors Paschal Chukwu and Frank Howard to have one last great game in front of their home fans. The crowd may be the sixth man in this one and may give them just enough momentum to put the Orange in front and come out with another resume-defining win.
So will the game be televised? Well, ladies and gentleman, I’m glad to say that, yes, the game will be regionally televised Monday, March 4th on ESPN at 7:00 p.m. ET, according to Syracuse.com. You can also view the game on streaming devices or online on the WatchESPN app or ESPN3.com. The game can also be heard online at Cuse.com under the listen tab 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 (19-10, 10-6 ACC) and Virginia (26-2, 14-2 ACC)
Where: Carrier Dome
Rivalry: 5-6, Virginia leads the all-time series, according to Orangehoops.org. Note: The Orange also trail Virginia in head-to head-matchups since the Orange joined the ACC in 2014, 2-5.
When: Saturday, March 4th at 7:00 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: Saturday, March 9th at Clemson
Next. Syracuse Basketball: Top 30 Players in School History. dark