Virginia Tech @ Syracuse preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 26, 2019 ) Syracuse 56, Virginia Tech 78

Usually cranky Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim had no issues with his offense in a one-point home loss to Notre Dame on Saturday. However, he felt like the defense needed to be better, and it will get the chance to prove itself when Virginia Tech arrives Tuesday after getting totally shut down on the offensive end by Virginia over the weekend.

Buddy Boeheim led five Syracuse players in double figures with 23 points and tied a career high with seven 3-point field goals, but the Orange surrendered a three-point lead with 1:33 left in the contest to fall to 1-2 in ACC play. "We couldn’t get a stop and we played just about as well, offensively, as we can. But you have to get stops to win and we didn’t do that," Jim Boeheim said afterwards. Virginia Tech shot just 27 percent in becoming the latest victim of the vaunted Virginia defense in a 65-39 road loss on Saturday. The last time Virginia Tech was held under 40 points was on Feb. 18, 1967, at East Carolina in a 43-33 loss.

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: ACC Network

ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH (10-4, 1-2 ACC): The only player who had any answers against the Cavaliers' defense was freshman Landers Nolley II (17.4 points, 43 3-point percentage), who scored 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-8 beyond the arc. Virginia's defense forced the Hokies - the nation's best at protecting the ball (9.5 turnovers per game entering the contest), to commit 13 turnovers. “I felt like through the first two media (timeouts) we were rushing, with having like six turnovers the first two medias," Nolley said. "Just have to play good defense and offensive and move on."

ABOUT SYRACUSE (8-6, 1-2): Notre Dame, which shot 45 percent from the field and matched Syracuse by also draining 15-of-31 from 3-point range, converted a late 3-pointer to tie and turned two offensive rebounds into the game-deciding free throws. Marek Dolezaj (10.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists) recorded a double-double for the Orange with 13 points and 10 rebounds while adding a team-best seven assists. Freshman Joseph Girard (11.9 points, 4.1 assists, 30 3-pointers) added 20 points and shot 4-of-9 beyond the arc, while Elijah Hughes (19.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists) added 19 points and five assists.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. No. 10 Virginia Tech beat Syracuse 78-56 last season, but the Orange have won nine of the last 11 overall.

2. Syracuse, which has three juniors, a sophomore and two freshman among its top six players, ranks 311th in KenPom's experience chart.

3. Buddy Boeheim leads the ACC in 3-pointers (53) and 3-point attempts (129), Hughes leads in minutes per game (37.5) and points produced per game (18.5), while Girard leads in free-throw percentage (95.1).

PREDICTION: Syracuse 70, Virginia Tech 64