The No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers host the Syracuse Orange on Saturday in an ACC college basketball matchup. The game tips off at 12:00 p.m. ET in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Cavaliers are listed as 12.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at O/U 147.5 points. Below is my full preview, prediction and pick for this ACC college basketball matchup.
UVA vs. Syracuse prediction, preview
Virginia is having a fantastic season under Ryan Odom. The program was stunned by the sudden retirement of Tony Bennett just before the start of last season, and the team was never able to get going. After hiring Odom prior to this season, it’s clear what a special coach he is. In just one offseason, he brought this program back to being one of the best in college basketball. The Cavaliers have a 19-3 record overall and are 8-2 in ACC play. Virginia is one of the most well-rounded teams in the country, ranking in the top 22 in both offensive rating and defensive rating. Freshman forward Thijs De Ridder leads the way for UVA, averaging 16.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
It has not been as bright a season for Syracuse. The Orange are 4-6 so far in ACC play, firmly in the middle of the pack of the conference. This is likely to mark five straight seasons without an NCAA Tournament bid for Syracuse, a fall from grace for one of the most consistent programs in the first 20 years of this century. The Orange are not an awful team by any means, just very mediocre. They are decent defensively and below-average by ACC standards on the offensive end. It didn’t help that their top scorer, Donnie Freeman, missed a month of the season that included some of the team’s biggest nonconference games.
UVA vs. Syracuse pick
My best bet is for Syracuse to stay under its team total of 67.5 points. Syracuse has not been playing good basketball the last few weeks, losing five of its past six games. Meanwhile, UVA is in great form. The Cavaliers have won eight of their past nine games and have been demolishing some of those opponents. They are coming off a defensive masterclass against Pittsburgh, who they held to just 47 points. Last Saturday, they held Boston College to just 66 points, so back-to-back opponents have gone under this team total.
The Cavaliers rank 275th in the nation in adjusted tempo. They have no interest in running in transition and making this a back-and-forth game. They will work the shot clock in the halfcourt when they have possession. On the defensive end, they will make Syracuse work hard for open looks. The Orange don’t like to shoot threes, ranking 16th in the conference in both three-point attempts and three-point makes. Virginia will not give them easy looks, so Syracuse might be forced to shoot from deep more than it wants to. That should result in a lot of bad shots, keeping Syracuse under this team total.
