No. 2 Virginia at Syracuse, 7 p.m. ESPN
Virginia faces Syracuse in early March for a chance at the regular-season ACC championship for the second year in a row tonight. The circumstances are a little different, though.
Last year, the game was in Charlottesville and this year, it's in Syracuse. Last year, the winner of the game won the title outright. This year, Syracuse is out of contention and UVa wraps up it with a win and leaves the door open for Duke with a loss. Even if UVa loses tonight, if it wins Saturday at Louisville, it would clinch the title. And even with two losses in these final two games, Duke would need to win both of its final two games (vs. Wake Forest and at North Carolina) just to share the title with Virginia. Duke would then be the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament due to its tie-breaking win over the Cavaliers.
Syracuse (18-11, 9-7 ACC) is not only out of contention for the regular-season title, it is out of contention for berths in the NCAA and ACC tournaments. The Orange placed sanctions on itself for recruiting violations, including a postseason ban this year, to try to get ahead of a pending NCAA report. Syracuse hopes the self-imposed ban will help ease any penalties the NCAA might hand down.
This is senior night for Syracuse and thus, its last home game of the season. I expect the Orange to either come out fired up for its final home game, or just trying to get to the finish line of what has been a trying season. Syracuse has one more game after tonight on the road Saturday at N.C.
State.
Rakeem Christmas is the Orange's only only scholarship senior and is also the team's best player, averaging 17.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. Syracuse has two other players averaging double figures in points: streaky 3-point shooter Trevor Cooney (13.5 ppg, 2.2 assists per game), who is hitting 31.5 percent of his 3s, down from the 37.5 percent he hit last year, and Michael Gbinije (13 ppg, five rpg, 3.5 apg), the Orange's more consistent 3-point shooter at 41.1 percent. The Orange as a team only shoots 30.6 percent from beyond the arc (305th in the country), 43.5 percent from the field (179th), and 66.2 percent from the charity stripe (267th).
Syracuse does defend pretty well this year, allowing 63.3 ppg (94th) and recording 8.4 steals per game (13th), which sounds like a high number for a team that stays in a 2-3 zone. Syracuse also grabs 37 rebounds per game, good for 54th in the nation.
Other key contributors for Syracuse include Tyler Roberson (7.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg), Kaleb Joseph (6.2 ppg, four apg), and B.J. Johnson (4.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg).
Syracuse has had an up-and-down season. The Orange won at Notre Dame, its best game of the year, took two-loss Villanova to two overtimes before losing and also played Duke really tough at home, but lost to Cal, Michigan, and Clemson, and also beat Virginia Tech by two twice and was swept by Pittsburgh.
My gut tells me Syracuse will come out swinging in this game. Why not? There is nothing to lose and Syracuse is a prideful program. It's the last home game of the year and I'm sure the Carrier Dome crowd would get behind a possible upset of the No. 2 team in the nation. If Syracuse can win its final two games, it would eclipse the 20-victory mark for the 18th season in a row.
Virginia has just as much to play for in these final two games, especially tonight, when a win guarantees a second straight ACC regular-season crown.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 5-10.
Virginia faces Syracuse in early March for a chance at the regular-season ACC championship for the second year in a row tonight. The circumstances are a little different, though.
Last year, the game was in Charlottesville and this year, it's in Syracuse. Last year, the winner of the game won the title outright. This year, Syracuse is out of contention and UVa wraps up it with a win and leaves the door open for Duke with a loss. Even if UVa loses tonight, if it wins Saturday at Louisville, it would clinch the title. And even with two losses in these final two games, Duke would need to win both of its final two games (vs. Wake Forest and at North Carolina) just to share the title with Virginia. Duke would then be the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament due to its tie-breaking win over the Cavaliers.
Syracuse (18-11, 9-7 ACC) is not only out of contention for the regular-season title, it is out of contention for berths in the NCAA and ACC tournaments. The Orange placed sanctions on itself for recruiting violations, including a postseason ban this year, to try to get ahead of a pending NCAA report. Syracuse hopes the self-imposed ban will help ease any penalties the NCAA might hand down.
This is senior night for Syracuse and thus, its last home game of the season. I expect the Orange to either come out fired up for its final home game, or just trying to get to the finish line of what has been a trying season. Syracuse has one more game after tonight on the road Saturday at N.C.
Rakeem Christmas is the Orange's only only scholarship senior and is also the team's best player, averaging 17.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. Syracuse has two other players averaging double figures in points: streaky 3-point shooter Trevor Cooney (13.5 ppg, 2.2 assists per game), who is hitting 31.5 percent of his 3s, down from the 37.5 percent he hit last year, and Michael Gbinije (13 ppg, five rpg, 3.5 apg), the Orange's more consistent 3-point shooter at 41.1 percent. The Orange as a team only shoots 30.6 percent from beyond the arc (305th in the country), 43.5 percent from the field (179th), and 66.2 percent from the charity stripe (267th).
Syracuse does defend pretty well this year, allowing 63.3 ppg (94th) and recording 8.4 steals per game (13th), which sounds like a high number for a team that stays in a 2-3 zone. Syracuse also grabs 37 rebounds per game, good for 54th in the nation.
Other key contributors for Syracuse include Tyler Roberson (7.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg), Kaleb Joseph (6.2 ppg, four apg), and B.J. Johnson (4.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg).
Syracuse has had an up-and-down season. The Orange won at Notre Dame, its best game of the year, took two-loss Villanova to two overtimes before losing and also played Duke really tough at home, but lost to Cal, Michigan, and Clemson, and also beat Virginia Tech by two twice and was swept by Pittsburgh.
My gut tells me Syracuse will come out swinging in this game. Why not? There is nothing to lose and Syracuse is a prideful program. It's the last home game of the year and I'm sure the Carrier Dome crowd would get behind a possible upset of the No. 2 team in the nation. If Syracuse can win its final two games, it would eclipse the 20-victory mark for the 18th season in a row.
Virginia has just as much to play for in these final two games, especially tonight, when a win guarantees a second straight ACC regular-season crown.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 5-10.
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