Syracuse Orange at Virginia Cavaliers Betting Preview
Get your basketball fix Monday night with an ACC showdown between the Syracuse Orange (9-4) and the No. 13 Virginia Cavaliers (10-2). Virginia will host this one from the John Paul Jones Arena, with tipoff scheduled for 7 pm ET.
Syracuse comes into this one on a modest two-game winning streak, including an upset of No. 16 Virginia Tech, 78-60, on Saturday. In the win, Quincy Guerrier led four double-digit scorers with 20 points and added nine rebounds. The Orange will look for back-to-back wins over ranked ACC foes as they travel to Virginia.
Speaking of the Cavaliers, they currently rank atop the ACC standings with a perfect 6-0 conference record. Since losing big to No. 1 Gonzaga the day after Christmas, Virginia has won six games in a row and will look to stay undefeated playing at the John Paul Jones Arena.
Virginia is the favorite playing at home in this contest. They are -300 to win, while the Orange’s moneyline sits at +245. The spread features Syracuse +6.5 while the over/under for total points is 131.5.
By The Numbers
Offensively, Syracuse has been the better team. They currently rank 33rd in scoring, averaging 79.4 points per game. The Cavaliers rank 125th, averaging 72.8 points.
Defensively, it is all Virginia. In terms of scoring defense, Virginia ranks 5th in the nation allowing just 59.6 points per game to opponents. Syracuse falls to 135th overall, allowing 69.3 points per game.
Syracuse Hope To Knock Off Conference Foe
Thus far, this season has been a bit inconsistent for the Orange. Even if you look at their last four games, they dropped two winnable games against UNC and Pittsburgh before beating Miami and upsetting No. 16 Virginia Tech. Currently ranked 8th in the ACC, they would love to knock off the top-ranked Cavaliers.
Syracuse currently has five players averaging double-digits, but they are led by sophomore forward Guerrier. On the season, he is averaging 16.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, and one assist per game.
Alan Griffin and Buddy Boeheim are two other major scoring options. Griffin is averaging 15.7 points and 7.2 rebounds, while Boeheim is averaging 15.1 points and 3.4 assists. The other two averaging double-digits are Marek Dolezaj (11.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists) and Joseph Girard III (10.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists).
Cavaliers Look To Stay Undefeated In ACC
With only a one-game lead over Florida State, Virginia knows that every conference win is crucial, and they will look to add to their total as they host Syracuse Monday. Leading the way for the Cavaliers is senior forward Sam Hauser. On the season, he is averaging 14.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.
The other significant contributors are Jay Huff (13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds), Trey Murphy III (10.4 points,) and Kihei Clark (10.2 points, 4.1 assists). While this may not be quite the suffocating defense of years past, this team is solid on defense.
Where they really excel on defense is in rebounding. The Cavaliers currently rank 11th in the nation in offensive rebounds allowed at just 5.8 per game. Offensively, they are excellent at taking care of the ball, ranking 2nd in the nation averaging only 8.2 turnovers per game.
Take Virginia To Win And Cover
While both of these teams come in with winning streaks, it will be Virginia that gets to continue theirs. They are a remarkably balanced team that can beat you on both ends of the court.
Thus far this season, Syracuse is 6-7 against the spread while Virginia is 7-5. I like Virginia to not only win but also to cover the spread.
