Story Links
CHARLOTTESVILLE–The Virginia men’s basketball team takes to the road for the first time this season on Friday (Nov. 28) when the Cavaliers play at Syracuse.
UVa is 3-1 on the season after losing to Liberty 86-82 at John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday (Nov. 25). Syracuse enters the game with a 5-0 record after winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in Kansas City (Nov. 24-25) with victories over nationally-ranked opponents Florida and Kansas.
Friday’s game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised by Time Warner 26 in Syracuse.
Virginia concluded a four-game season-opening homestand with its loss to hot-shooting Liberty. The Flames shot 56.6 percent (30-53) from the field for the game, including 50 percent (13-26) from three-point range. In the second half, Liberty shot 69.6 percent (16-23) from the field, including 60 percent (6-10) from three-point range.
Sammy Zeglinski made the first start of his collegiate career and scored a career-high 24 points, all in the second half, to lead the Cavaliers against Liberty. Zeglinski also had a career high with six three-point field goals. Sylven Landesberg scored 17 points and had nine rebounds, Calvin Baker scored 15 points and had five assists, and Jeff Jones scored 10 points for Virginia. Mike Scott had a game-high 17 rebounds for the Cavaliers.
The loss to Liberty ended the Cavaliers’ 36-game November home winning streak, UVa’s 16-game winning streak against Big South opponents and Virginia’s 15-game winning streak against non-conference in-state opponents.
Landesberg continues to lead UVa in scoring with an average of 22.0 points a game. He ranks second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring in statistics through Nov. 25. Landesberg is shooting 56.1 percent (32-57) from the field and is averaging 6.3 rebounds a game. He was named the ACC Rookie of the Week each of the first two weeks of the season.
Scott leads the ACC in rebounding with an average of 11.5 a game. He is also averaging 12.5 points a game and is shooting 60.6 percent (20-33) from the field.
Zeglinski is averaging 13.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game. Four other Virginia players are averaging between 8.3 and 6.8 points a game.
As a team, UVa is averaging 83.5 points a game and allowing an average of 81.0 points a game. The Cavaliers are out-rebounding their opponents by an average of 8.0 rebounds a game.
Syracuse leads the series with Virginia 2-1 and Friday’s game will mark the first time the two teams have met in Syracuse. The Orange defeated the Cavaliers 70-68 at John Paul Jones Arena last season. The two previous meetings in the series were played in NCAA Tournament competition. UVa defeated Syracuse 63-55 in the round of 16 of the 1984 NCAA Tournament in Atlanta, Ga., and the Orange beat the Cavaliers 63-61 in the second round of the tournament in 1990 in Richmond, Va.
The Orange defeated Florida 89-83 and Kansas 89-81 in overtime to win the CBE Classic. Syracuse sophomore point guard Jonny Flynn was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and junior forward Paul Harris joined Flynn on the CBE Classic All-Tournament Team.
Flynn leads the Orange in scoring with an average of 21.0 points a game. Also averaging in double figures in scoring for Syracuse are junior forward Arinze Onuaku (15.0 ppg.), senior guard Eric Devendorf (15.0 ppg.) and Harris (12.4 ppg.). Harris leads the team in rebounding with an average of 9.8 rebounds a game and Onuaku is averaging 8.4 rebounds a game.
Syracuse is averaging 85.0 points a game and allowing an average of 70.4 points a game.
Jim Boeheim is in his 33rd season as the head coach at Syracuse. His Syracuse teams have compiled an overall record of 776-278 and the Orange won the 2003 NCAA Championship. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 and was a member of the coaching staff for the men’s 2008 United States Olympic Basketball Team.
After playing Syracuse, Virginia’s next game is at Minnesota in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Dec. 2. The game is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised by ESPN2.