Syracuse at No. 3 Virginia
Date & Time
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018 | 8 p.m. ET
Location John Paul Jones Arena | Charlottesville, Va.
Coverage ACC Network | ACC Network Extra | Cavaliers Live | Gametracker
Additional Info Tickets | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Game Notes | Game Program | JPJ Clear Bag Policy | Parking Map


Jan. 8, 2018

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 3 Virginia (14-1, 3-0 ACC) hosts Syracuse (12-4, 1-2 ACC) in ACC men’s basketball action on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 8 p.m.

For Openers
– Virginia and Syracuse battle in the first of two meetings between the teams in 2017-18.
– The Cavaliers are riding a six-game winning streak and are 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since starting 7-0 in 2014-15.
– As of Jan. 8, UVA ranks first nationally in scoring defense (52.5 ppg) and turnovers per game (9.1), second in field goal percentage defense (35.9%), seventh in fouls per game (14.6), eighth in turnover margin (5.3), ninth in scoring margin (18.4) and 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.56).

Broadcast Information
– The Virginia-Syracuse contest will be televised on the ACC Network and streamed on ACC Network Extra (ESPN3.com) and ESPN App, and broadcast on the Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Athletics mobile app on iTunes or Android.
– Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.

The Head Coaches
Virginia: Tony Bennett (Green Bay, 1992), 202-84 in nine seasons at UVA and 271-117 in 12 seasons overall.
Syracuse: Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 1966), 915-361 in 42 seasons at Syracuse

UVA Ranked No. 3 in Latest National Polls
– UVA is ranked a season-high No. 3 in the latest national polls.
– UVA has been ranked in the AP poll for seven straight weeks and has been ranked in the top 10 in each of the past two polls.
– The No. 3 ranking is UVA’s highest since Feb. 22, 2016 (No. 3).
– The Cavaliers received votes in the first three AP polls, snapping a streak of 64 consecutive weeks in the AP rankings since Feb. 3, 2014.
– UVA was ranked in the top 10 in the preseason polls from 2014-16.

UVA in Ken Pom Efficiency Ratings
– As of Jan. 8, UVA ranks Nos. 1, 3 and 37 in the KenPom.com adjusted defense, overall and adjusted offense efficiency ratings.
– UVA is shooting 47.6 percent, 39.7 percent from 3-point range (2nd best in school history) and 74.9 percent from the free throw line (3rd best in school history).
– UVA has shot 50 percent or better in seven games and limited its opponents to less than 50 percent shooting in all 15 games.

Last Time Out
Devon Hall scored 16 points and No. 8 Virginia held No. 12 North Carolina to its second-lowest point total of the season in the Cavaliers’ 61-49 victory on Jan. 6.
– Hall had seven assists for Virginia (14-1, 3-0 ACC), and De’Andre Hunter had 10 points and seven rebounds.
– The Cavaliers won their sixth straight game and sent the Tar Heels to consecutive losses for the first time since February 2016.
– Joel Berry II led North Carolina (12-4, 1-2) with 17 points and Kenny Williams had 11.
– Virginia trailed only briefly and led 35-28 at halftime.
Isaiah Wilkins held UNC’s Luke Maye to eight points and added six points, six rebounds and three blocks for Virginia.

All-Time Against Syracuse
– UVA is 4-5 all-time against Syracuse, including a 3-1 mark in ACC action, in the series that dates back to 1983-84.
– Syracuse has a two-game winning streak in the series, including a 66-62 win last season at Carrier Dome.
– UVA is 2-1 vs. the Orange in Charlottesville, including wins in the last two meetings in 2014 (75-56) and 2016 (73-65).
– Head coach Tony Bennett is 3-2 all-time against Syracuse.

Last Time Against the Orange
– Tyus Battle and Andrew White each scored 23 points to lift Syracuse to a 66-62 win over then-No. 9 Virginia at the Carrier Dome on Feb. 4, 2017.
Kyle Guy led UVA with 14 points and London Perrantes added 11.
– UVA led 34-22 at halftime, but Syracuse responded with a 19-2 run to begin the second half.
– Syracuse shot 54.8 percent, marking a season high against the Cavaliers .
Ty Jerome added nine points for UVA and Mamadi Diakite chipped in eight points as the Cavaliers had 33 points off the bench.
– UVA shot 50 percent (12 of 24) from 3-point range.

Getting Defensive
– UVA has limited its foes to 52.5 points per game (2nd best in school history) and has held seven opponents to fewer than 50 points (UNCG, Austin Peay, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Savannah State, Hampton and North Carolina).
– UVA has held 13 opponents to 60 or fewer points.
– UVA has held 12 foes to less than 43 percent shooting.
– The Cavaliers have held eight opponents to less than 30 percent shooting from 3-point range.
– The Cavaliers are 71-2 when limiting their opponents to fewer than 50 points under head coach Tony Bennett (7-0 in 2017-18).
– Bennett-coached teams are 96-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 50 points during his 12-year coaching career.
– In 2016-17, Virginia led the nation in scoring defense (56.4 ppg) for the third time under Bennett.
– Bennett-coached teams have led the nation in scoring defense four times (2008-09, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2016-17) and finished in the top-five nationally in eight of 11 seasons.

About the Cavaliers
– UVA is led by tri-captains Devon Hall, Isaiah Wilkins and Jack Salt.
– The announcement of Hall, Wilkins and Salt marked the first time in Bennett’s 12-year head coaching career where he officially named team captains.
– UVA has averaged 70.9 points per game (second most under Bennett) on offense, while yielding a nation-leading 52.5 ppg (second lowest in school history) on defense.
– UVA has started Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Hall, Wilkins and Salt in each of its 15 games.
– Guy leads the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game and has reached double figures in 12 games, including a career-high 29 points at VCU (11/17/17) and 21 vs. Lehigh (12/2/17).
– Hall has averaged 11.9 points, which is 3.5 points higher than last year’s average of 8.4 points.
– Wilkins is averaging 6.9 points and team-highs in rebounds (7.3), blocked shots (1.5) and steals (1.3).
– Jerome is averaging 9.8 points and Salt has chipped in 4.0 rebounds per game.
– Graduate transfer Nigel Johnson is averaging 6.5 points after averaging 11.3 points for Rutgers last season.
Mamadi Diakite (6.1 ppg & 3.6 rpg) and redshirt freshmen De’Andre Hunter (6.8 ppg) are key role players.
Jay Huff (3.7 ppg) and Marco Anthony provide depth and fellow rookie Francesco Badocchi is expected to redshirt the 2017-18 season.

On the Horizon
– No. 3 Virginia hosts NC State on Sunday, Jan. 14. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.