The Atlantic Coast Conference’s best offense and defense will collide in Charlottesville, Va., on Monday evening when Syracuse basketball travels to No. 13 Virginia.
The Orange (9-4, 3-3), coming off an impressive crushing of No. 16 Virginia Tech this past Saturday afternoon inside the Carrier Dome, now squares off with the Cavaliers (10-2, 6-0), a team that captured the 2019 national championship and currently sits atop the ACC standings.
The ‘Cuse and UVA are scheduled to commence their conference clash at 7 pm from John Paul Jones Arena, with ESPN providing television coverage. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index says that the Cavaliers possess a definitive 73.2 percent chance to prevail.
As of Jan. 24, and per statistics on the ACC’s Web site, Syracuse basketball is No. 1 in the league in scoring, at 79.4 points a game. Virginia, meanwhile, has proven to have one of the country’s stingiest defenses in recent years, and the 2020-21 campaign is no different.
The Cavaliers allow just 59.6 points per encounter, good for No. 1 in the ACC as well as No. 6 nationally through games on Jan. 23. The Orange offense will face a tremendous challenge in this match-up.
Syracuse basketball makes a tough trip to defensive-minded UVA.
Not only is Virginia suffocating on defense, but the Cavaliers are solid on the other end of the floor, averaging 72.8 points per meeting while connecting on 50.5 percent from the field, 80.4 percent from the charity stripe and 38.9 percent from 3-point land.
The ‘Cuse does boast a somewhat sizable edge in the rebounding department, and if the Orange isn’t shooting well from deep, it must manufacture points via the offensive glass and from the free-throw line. Both teams do a commendable job of limiting their turnovers.
Syracuse basketball and UVA split their duels in the 2019-20 term. The Cavaliers pasted the ‘Cuse in the season opener during that stanza, 48-34, on the Hill. But the Orange exacted revenge on the road by besting Virginia in overtime.
All-time, Syracuse basketball is 6-8 versus the Cavaliers, according to orangehoops.org. That includes a 3-7 mark since the ‘Cuse joined the ACC.
However, we all remember the epic comeback that No. 10 seed Syracuse basketball had in the second half to knock off No. 1 seed Virginia in the 2016 Elite Eight. That was fun.