Syracuse men’s basketball: predictions and poll for Virginia Tech

Once again, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team (13-8, 6-4) has its eyes set on securing its first quad one win of the season. The Orange will have that opportunity tomorrow night in a primetime matchup against the Virginia Tech Hokies (12-8, 2-7), enter the game after a win over Duke.

Tip-off between the Orange and the Hokies is scheduled for 7 pm EST, with the game also available to watch on the ACC Network.

Here are our predictions:

Kevin

Virginia Tech 77, Syracuse 74

Hunter Cattoor’s return gives the Hokies a boost on both ends. They are unlikely to shoot 3-19 from 3 with him on the floor and he gives them a taller defender on Joe Girard. Syracuse needs to play fast and apply more pressure to get the Hokies out of any offensive rhythm. If they sit in the zone and let Justyn Mutts distribute it could be a long night. Virginia Tech wants to play slow, so Syracuse should make them as uncomfortable as possible.

Mike

Virginia Tech 78, Syracuse 72

Tuesday’s loss has to be absolutely deflating. Doing a ton right for 39 minutes and then freezing up at the end won’t do any favors for Orange players’ confidence, but they need to be focused on “one game at a time” at this stage. On the other side, VT finally snapped its long losing streak but has two ranked opponents in a row after Syracuse. It’s a winnable game, but who wants it more? In this case, I think the full-strength Hokies team intends to prove that skid was a fluke.

Christian

Virginia Tech 80, Syracuse 72

Home court and an additional shooter make a big difference. I know it seems like we’re placing a lot of the results here just on one player who averages under 10 points a game. But look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you trust this Syracuse zone to stop a three-point shooter. Even though Virginia Tech was only 3-19 from three in the last game, the Hokies got a lot of open looks that were of high quality. The Orange cannot get away with giving Virginia Tech, especially Cattoor, from getting those same looks. And you know Justyn Mutts is going to find him open on the perimeter.

Dom

Virginia Tech 74, Syracuse 70

If the Orange had closed out business at the Dome against UNC in its previous game, I would have been all-in on Syracuse pulling off a surprise on the road. But, the odds just aren’t in Syracuse’s favor. The Hokies’ poor shooting from its last matchup against the Orange will regress back to the men in favor of Virginia Tech, and you can’t ignore the contest on the road being a factor or the deflating nature of the loss to the Tar Heels. Unless the Orange perform defensively as well as it did against UNC (again), it’s hard seeing Syracuse steal this one on the road.

Szuba

Virginia Tech 75, Syracuse 72

Oh boy, the TNIAAM staff going with a clean sweep? Yeah, don’t think the three point disparity replicates itself again in this matchup with Cattoor back as others have mentioned. That, and Sean Pedulla won’t struggle as much as he did in the first meeting and Mutts still has a good chance to be damaging from the high post. The Syracuse offense should be able to hang, but ultimately the Orange fall again in another close game. Sleep with one eye open.

Those are our predictions, now it’s your turn.