Syracuse Basketball: How to watch the Orange at Virginia in ACC opener

Syracuse basketball, fresh off an impressive victory over LSU earlier this week in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge, will hit the road on Saturday afternoon by opening up Atlantic Coast Conference competition at Virginia.

This past Tuesday night at the JMA Wireless Dome, the Orange used a dominating second half to crush the Tigers, 80-57. Sophomore point guard Judah Mintz tallied a career-high 33 points, and sophomore forward Chris Bell added 20 points while proving strong from beyond the arc.

Mintz, and the ‘Cuse as a collective unit, did a wonderful job in getting to the free-throw line against LSU. In another encouraging sign, Syracuse basketball won the battle on the glass versus the Tigers.

Now the Orange (5-2) is set to square off with the Cavaliers (6-1) and its vaunted defense that is annually among the best in the country under head coach Tony Bennett.

How to watch Syracuse basketball go toe to toe with Virginia on the road.

The ‘Cuse will play at UVA on Saturday, Dec. 2, from the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va. The tip-off is scheduled for noon, with television coverage on ESPN2. Coverage will also be available from fuboTV.

Here is Virginia’s resume so far. The Cavaliers have defeated Tarleton State, Florida, North Carolina A&T, Texas Southern and West Virginia, where former Syracuse basketball center Jesse Edwards is a fifth-year player.

UVA fell by a wide margin to Wisconsin at a neutral site. Additionally, at home on Wednesday against No. 14 Texas A&M in the ACC/SEC Challenge, Virginia scored an impressive 59-47 conquest of the Aggies.

In the ACC’s preseason media poll that was released in late October, the Cavaliers were projected to finish at No. 4 in the league standings, whereas the Orange was forecast to be No. 10 in the conference race.

Two players to monitor in this league encounter are Virginia senior guard Reece Beekman and the Orange’s Mintz.

Beekman was on the preseason All-ACC first team, while Mintz made the preseason All-ACC second squad. To me, though, Mintz these days is certainly playing like an All-ACC first-team performer.

In recent years, Bennett and the Cavaliers have owned the ‘Cuse. UVA has beaten Syracuse basketball on five straight occasions, although the last four of those games were all decided by seven points or fewer.

The Orange is just 6-13 in its all-time series with Virginia, per SU Athletics, although we all remember how that 2016 Elite Eight game went down (fun times).

In 2023-24, UVA has shown that it once again has a pesky defense, and that could present problems for the ‘Cuse. Then again, Virginia isn’t an overly prolific-scoring unit to date in the current term, so this should be an interesting match-up.

Syracuse basketball – and I’m stating the obvious here – has to be great on the boards, not allowing the Cavaliers to have a lot of second-chance opportunities. Conversely, the Orange must pound the offensive glass and limit its turnovers.

After the ‘Cuse plays at Virginia, Syracuse basketball will return to the Hill to host Central New York neighbor Cornell out of the Ivy League. The Orange and the Big Red will face off beginning at 8 pm on Tuesday, Dec. 5, with the ACC Network airing this non-conference contest.