Virginia Cavaliers Travel To Syracuse to Face the Orange

Virginia Cavaliers Have Nations Best Defense

The 2nd-ranked Virginia Cavaliers and the Syracuse Orange will battle on Saturday when they meet at Carrier Dome. The ACC Network will provide television coverage. Tip-off is set for 4 pm EST.

Oddsmakers opened the Cavaliers as -7-point favorites versus the Orange, while the game's total opened at 112. Virginia is now a 5.5-point favorite and the total has edged up to 114.

The fans will likely not be entertained by an up-tempo, high-scoring track meet type of game. Defense will be theme in front of an expected crowd of more than 26,000 at the Carrier Dome. It will be Syracuse's biggest crown of the season.

Virginia has the best defensive team in the nation. They are allowing only 52.7 points per game. Syracuse is known for its active 2-3 zone defense. The Orange rank No. 10 in the nation. They are allowing 62.8 points per game.

In the first meeting on Jan. 9 at Virginia, the Cavaliers won 69-61. The Cavs shot only 38.3 percent from the field and Syracuse made 37.7 percent. The Orange made 28.6 percent of its 3-point shots, while the Cavaliers shot just 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Syracuse Look to start Win Streak Versus Virginia Cavaliers

Syracuse was a 55-51 loser in their most recent outing on the road against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. They failed to cover the PK-point spread.

Syracuse had a three-game winning streak snapped against Georgia Tech on Wednesday. Forward Tyus Battle had 19 points and a career-high nine rebounds. The Orange shot a season-low 30 percent from the field.

Battle and guard Frank Howard combined to make only 8 of 34 shots from the field. The killer included being only 4 of 15 from 3-point range.

Great Defense is no Stranger to the Virginia Cavaliers

Virginia was a 74-64 winner in their most recent outing at home against the Louisville Cardinals. They earned a push of the -10-point spread as favorites.

Virginia coach Tony Bennett has coached four teams that have led the nation in scoring defense. The Cavaliers are in the midst of a 13-game winning streak. During the streak they have held eight opponents below 50 points this season.

He has used the same starting lineup of Ty Jerome, guard Kyle Guy, guard Devon Hall, forward Isaiah Wilkins and center Jack Salt in all 22 games.

The Cavaliers are off to their best start in the ACC since 1980. They were 12-0 in Ralph Sampson's sophomore season.

Recent Form

Name	Record	ATS	Offense	Defense	Diff	ATS Home	ATS Away	OU Record	OU Home	OU Away
Virginia	21-1	14-4-1	69.18	52.68	16.5	7-3-1	5-1	5-14	4-7	1-5
Syracuse	15-7	8-12	69.18	62.82	6.36	5-7	2-4	8-12	3-9	4-2

Power Stats

Assists Turnovers
Name	Assists	Turnovers	Ratio
VIRGA	13.68	9.14	1.5
SYRA	11.27	13.00	0.87

Rebounding
Name	Offense	Defense	Total
VIRGA	8.45	24.09	32.54
SYRA	13.09	26.55	39.64

ShootingPercentage
Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
VIRGA	46.80	37.57	9.23
SYRA	42.25	37.66	4.59

Team Records

Virginia Cavaliers

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	21-1	14-0	7-1	14-4-1	7-3-1	7-1	69.18	52.68	16.50
Last 10	10-0	6-0	4-0	7-2-1	3-2-1	4-0	65.70	53.10	12.60
vs Conf	10-0	6-0	4-0	7-2-1	3-2-1	4-0	65.70	53.10	12.60

Syracuse Orange

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	15-7	13-2	2-5	8-12	6-7	2-5	69.18	62.82	6.36
Last 10	5-5	4-1	1-4	4-6	3-2	1-4	64.80	61.40	3.40
vs Conf	4-5	3-1	1-4	3-6	2-2	1-4	65.11	63.00	2.11

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	69.18	220	62.82	9
Away Team Away Scoring vs Home Team Home Defense	67.63	182	58.33	11
Away Team Road Rebounds vs Home Team Home Rebounds Allowed	31.38	222	30.60	35
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	69.18	219	52.68	1
Home Team Home Scoring vs Away Team Road Defense	69.80	243	55.50	1
Home Team Home Rebounds vs Away Team Road Rebounds Allowed	39.40	61	32.50	38

Head To Head Summary

Team	record	ATS	O/U	AVG	AVG ½	FG%	REB	3PT	steals
Virginia	4-4	3-5	5-3	67.13	32.63	44.93	33.75	66/169	6.38
Syracuse	4-4	5-3	5-3	63.25	25.50	41.19	30.00	53/162	7.88

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	away score	Home	home score	line	ATS	Total	O/U	FG% Edge	Reb Edge	3PT Edge	Away Half Score	Home Half Score	Away FG%	Home FG%	Away Rebounds	Home Rebounds	Away Three Pointers	Home Three Pointers	Away Steals	Home Steals
Jan 9, 2018	SYRA	61	VIRGA	68	-9.5	SYRA	114	O	SYRA	SYRA	VIRGA	26	29	38.3	37.7	41	31	6/21	9/27	6	7
Feb 4, 2017	VIRGA	62	SYRA	66	4.5	SYRA	127.5	O	SYRA	VIRGA	VIRGA	34	22	48	54.8	24	23	12/24	7/18	6	11
Mar 27, 2016	SYRA	68	VIRGA	62	-8	SYRA	122.5	O	VIRGA	SYRA	VIRGA	21	35	36.8	41.5	36	34	6/18	8/21	11	3
Jan 24, 2016	SYRA	65	VIRGA	73	-9.5	SYRA	126	O	VIRGA	VIRGA	SYRA	29	37	38.9	56.8	28	31	13/30	8/18	7	7
Mar 2, 2015	VIRGA	59	SYRA	47	5.5	VIRGA	113	U	VIRGA	VIRGA	VIRGA	23	20	46.2	38.3	42	20	6/17	4/19	9	10
Mar 1, 2014	SYRA	56	VIRGA	75	-4	VIRGA	115	O	VIRGA	VIRGA	VIRGA	28	27	35.7	50	29	39	5/22	8/16	4	3
Nov 28, 2008	VIRGA	70	SYRA	73	-14	VIRGA	159.5	U	SYRA	VIRGA	Push	40	29	42.2	46.7	36	29	4/14	4/13	10	6
Dec 5, 2007	SYRA	70	VIRGA	68	-8	SYRA	158.5	U	SYRA	SYRA	VIRGA	29	36	44.1	40.6	34	33	8/21	11/32	8	6

College Basketball Betting Trends

Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia is 5-0-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Virginia is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Virginia's last 6 games
Virginia is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Virginia is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Virginia's last 5 games on the road
Virginia is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Syracuse
Virginia is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Syracuse
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Virginia's last 6 games when playing Syracuse

Syracuse Orange
Syracuse is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Syracuse is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games
Syracuse is 13-2 SU in its last 15 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Syracuse's last 6 games at home
Syracuse is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Virginia
Syracuse is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Virginia
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Syracuse's last 6 games when playing Virginia

Team Last 5 Games

Virginia Cavaliers

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	Total	ATS Result	field goal percentage	free throw percentage	three pointers	Location
Jan 31, 2018	LOUIS	74-64	W	-10	125.5	P/O	53.70	77.78	9	H
Jan 27, 2018	DUKE	65-63	W	3.5	134	W/U	39.39	77.78	6	A
Jan 23, 2018	CLEMS	61-36	W	-9.5	119.5	W/U	44.64	50.00	7	H
Jan 21, 2018	WAKE	59-49	W	-7.5	128	W/U	40.38	100.00	7	A
Jan 18, 2018	GATEC	64-48	W	-7.5	116.5	W/U	46.55	77.78	3	A

Syracuse Orange

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	Total	ATS Result	field goal percentage	free throw percentage	three pointers	Location
Jan 31, 2018	GATEC	51-55	L	0	121.5	L/U	30.00	80.00	5	A
Jan 27, 2018	PITT	60-55	W	-10.5	121.5	L/U	35.19	73.08	3	A
Jan 24, 2018	BC	81-63	W	-7	133	W/O	60.42	72.73	7	H
Jan 16, 2018	PITT	59-45	W	-18	126.5	L/U	43.14	83.33	5	H
Jan 13, 2018	FLAST	90-101	L	4.5	137	L/O	38.81	78.95	8	A

Next up:
Virginia at Florida State Wednesday, February 7
Syracuse at Louisville Monday, February 5

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