Wahoo Preview: No. 6 Virginia at Syracuse

By Scott Ratcliffe

After defeating Syracuse earlier this month, the Virginia men’s basketball team goes for a season sweep of the Orange this evening on the road in front of a national TV audience (7 p.m., ESPN).

The 6th-ranked Cavaliers (16-3, 8-2 ACC) have won their last six-consecutive games and eight of their last nine, and are favored by 5.5 points to extend their winning streak tonight at the JMA Wireless Dome, according to Caesars Sportsbook. UVA is alone in second in the conference standings, 1.5 games back of first-place Clemson at the midway point of the ACC schedule.

The Orange (13-9, 6-5), meanwhile, have dropped two in a row and will be hungry to get back in the win column on their home floor after falling by 15 points in Blacksburg over the weekend. Jim Boeheim’s team has gone 9-4 at home this season, with losses to Colgate, Bryant, Pitt and most recently North Carolina.

Senior guard Joseph Girard III is the team’s leading scorer with 17.0 points per game, while freshman backcourt mate Judah Mintz is averaging 15.2 points and team-highs of 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per contest.

Senior center Jesse Edwards averages a double-double with 13.4 points and 10.4 rebounds, while also leading the league in blocks with 2.8 per game. Other contributors at the forward spot include forward Chris Bell (6.9 ppg), sophomore Benny Williams (6.8 ppg), and freshmen Maliq Brown (6.1 ppg) and Justin Taylor (5.0 ppg).

Tony Bennett became UVA’s all-time wins leader when the Hoos upended Syracuse, 73-66, a few weeks back on Jan. 7 at John Paul Jones Arena. In that contest, Girard (19 points) and Mintz (18) combined for over half of the Orange’s scoring output. Girard sank 5 of the team’s 8 3-pointers that afternoon, and the Cavaliers will need to limit his scoring opportunities as much as possible this time around.

Edwards was limited to a season-low 4 points on 2-for-5 shooting in the first meeting, as UVA forward Kadin Shedrick led the defensive charge down low that day, finishing with 4 blocks and 3 steals to go with his 11 points (4 of 6 FG) and 7 rebounds in 24 minutes of action.

Shedrick has made just 2 of 4 attempts from the field across the team’s five games since, and has played a total of 44 minutes in those games (8.8 per game), but could see more time tonight going up against Edwards.

The Cavaliers have taken 10 of the 12 meetings against the Orange as ACC rivals and 12 of the 18 in the all-time series. Virginia has won four-straight meetings at Syracuse and four in a row overall against the Orange. UVA is 6-2 this season when competing outside of Charlottesville (4-2 in true road games).