Syracuse basketball at Virginia Tech odds, prediction and how to watch

Syracuse basketball will look for a regular-season sweep of Virginia Tech when the Orange travels to the Hokies this coming Saturday night.

Earlier this week, at the JMA Wireless Dome, the ‘Cuse fell in a heart-breaking result to North Carolina, 72-68. The Orange had fought back from a double-digit deficit in the second half and had a shot to beat the Tar Heels in the game’s waning minutes, but a wild sequence of events led to a four-point loss for Syracuse basketball.

The Orange (13-8, 6-4 in the ACC) continues to search for high-quality wins to bolster its resume. Conquering UNC would have been huge, and the ‘Cuse also recently fell on the road to top-25 Miami by four points as well.

Virginia Tech (12-8, 2-7), meanwhile, had really been struggling of late. The Hokies were stuck in a seven-game losing streak before emerging victorious over Duke by three points at home this past Monday evening.

To be fair, in this recent seven-contest skid, five of those losses suffered by Virginia Tech were by five or fewer points.

For all of the 2022-23 campaign to date, the Hokies do own some quality wins, over teams such as Penn State, Minnesota, North Carolina, Dayton and Oklahoma State.

At this juncture in 2022-23, Syracuse basketball and Virginia Tech are both not really in the conversation for an invite to this spring’s Big Dance. Each group could use an ACC triumph on Saturday.

Syracuse basketball at Virginia Tech odds

When I published this column, actionnetwork.com had the Orange as a 6.5-point betting underdog to the Hokies on the road, with the over/under set at 140.5 points.

Syracuse basketball at Virginia Tech prediction

In their all-time series together, the Orange does have the edge against the Hokies. Back on January 11 of this year, the ‘Cuse played well in besting Virginia Tech at the Dome, 82-72.

As of this writing, the Hokies had a vastly superior NCAA NET ranking as compared to Syracuse basketball. If the Orange could knock off Virginia Tech on the road, it would likely amount to a coveted quadrant-one victory for the ‘Cuse, and Syracuse basketball needs some of those in a big-time way.

In looking at a variety of statistical categories in this match-up courtesy of the ESPN Web site, there are a lot of similarities between the Orange and the Hokies. Syracuse basketball scores more points per game than Virginia Tech, but the Hokies allow fewer points per meeting on defense.

I’m anticipating an entertaining and extremely close outcome in this ACC battle. I know that the ‘Cuse is on the road, but I think that Syracuse basketball will bounce back from a tough loss to UNC and get past Virginia Tech by a few points.

Injuries, how to watch, live stream, next game
On the injury front, freshman big man Peter Carey is out for the rest of the 2022-23 stanza, Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has said. The 6-foot-11 Carey, a power forward/center, recently had a surgical procedure done on his right knee and is expected to take a medical redshirt this year, Boeheim has said.

Additionally, as Mike Waters of Syracuse.com recently said via Twitter, redshirt junior big man John Bol Ajak didn’t play against the Tar Heels after suffering an upper-body injury during a recent practice. Hopefully, Ajak is ready to go versus Virginia Tech.

We’ll certainly continue to monitor the injury front for the ‘Cuse in the present term.

The Orange and the Hokies will tip off beginning at 7 pm on Saturday, Jan. 28, from the Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. The ACC Network will televise this league affair.

For Syracuse basketball and Virginia Tech fans who want to stream this game, you can check it out on fuboTV.

After the ‘Cuse suits up at the Hokies, the Orange will return to Central New York. On Monday, Jan. 30, starting at 7 pm, Syracuse basketball will host Virginia, with television coverage on ESPN.

The Cavaliers, ranked No. 7 in the latest Associated Press top-25 poll, defeated the Orange, 73-66, in Charlottesville, Va., on January 7.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.