Syracuse and Duke have garnered the biggest television ratings. North Carolina has grabbed the nation’s attention by turning its early-season nosedive into a flying success. Pittsburgh has made its presence in the Atlantic Coast Conference known immediately.

Virginia, however, has quietly put together arguably the best regular-season slate in the conference.

The Cavaliers have only lost once since the new year and stand in the Orange’s way of a regular-season title in its first ACC season.

“I think they’re a very good defensive team,” SU forward C.J. Fair said. “They live off their defense.”

No. 4 Syracuse (26-2, 13-2 ACC) travels to Charlottesville, Va., to face No. 12 Virginia (24-5, 15-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday in a game that will determine the frontrunner for the ACC regular-season crown. With the Blue Devils and Tar Heels both having four conference losses, the Orange can win its last three games to take the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament. If the Cavaliers win, a trip to Maryland’s Comcast Center is all that separates UVA from the top draw.

While the game is arguably the Orange’s most important thus far this season, SU head coach Jim Boeheim has said the regular season, and even conference tournament aren’t the end goal.

“You don’t get any trophies that matter in the regular season,” he said after Syracuse’s 56-55 win over North Carolina State on Feb. 15. “The only thing that matters is what you do at the end of the year. The real end of the year.”

But for Syracuse, a strong finish heading into tournament season is crucial. The team has struggled with offensive consistency since its 91-89 win against Duke on Feb. 1, and is coming off a narrow 57-55 victory over the Terrapins on Saturday.

And the Cavaliers pose a unique challenge. They’re a team that, unlike SU, has been able to bury its opponents. Only four of Virginia’s ACC victories have come by single digits, including a last-second game winner against the Panthers on a Malcolm Brogdon 3-pointer on Feb. 2.

To add to that, UVA has only lost at home twice this season.

“It’s going to be a tough place to play, a tough team to play against,” SU forward Jerami Grant said. “But at the same time, we’re going to be ready.”

For the Orange to be ready, it’ll need Grant to have recovered from the sore back that kept him out of the second half against Maryland. It’ll need Rakeem Christmas to stay out of foul trouble for the first time since SU’s loss to N.C. State on Feb. 15. And it’ll need Trevor Cooney to break out of his horrendous shooting slump.

The Orange shooting guard who was once making 50 percent of his 3-point shots is shooting just 27.5 percent from the field over his last six games.

“I got some OK looks off of rebounds when guys found me. Shots I normally make,” Cooney said after a 1-for-5 performance in SU’s 66-60 loss to Duke on Saturday. “I got to knock them down, and I will next game.”

But he didn’t. Cooney shot 3-of-13 and 2-of-10 from long range against Maryland as the Orange nearly blew a late 12-point lead.

With three games left — Virginia, Georgia Tech and Florida State — Cooney and SU have three more chances to regain their rhythm before tournament time.

While the Orange isn’t built to blow teams out, it can certainly be playing more complete games.

And with the ACC regular-season title likely on the line Saturday, there may be no better time to start.

Said Boeheim: “This is the way we’ve played really all year. When I go to bed at night I’m really happy that we’ve won 26 games. I’m really happy.”

Published on February 27, 2014 at 12:46 am

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1