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Syracuse nearly upset North Carolina on Tuesday night, but after allowing a putback layup off of a missed free throw and a flagrant one foul on Judah Mintz, UNC pulled through, helped along by strong performances by Armando Bacot and Pete Nance inside the paint. Jim Boeheim walked off the podium angered by a question. Mintz gave one-word answers with reporters swarming him in the locker room. The Orange played their most intense matchup and came up just short of the Atlantic Coast Conference win.

Now they head down to Virginia Tech, looking to rebound from the loss and close out the season series against the Hokies with two wins. On Jan. 11, SU won arguably its most impressive game of the season in an 82-72 victory at home, but caught VT in the midst of a seven-game losing streak.

Here is what our beat writers think will happen on Saturday when Syracuse takes on the Hokies.

Anish Vasudevan (18-3)
Hokie down
Syracuse 70, Virginia Tech 66

The North Carolina loss could be seen as a positive or a negative for SU. Connor sees it as the latter, I see it as the former. The Orange fought back from a 10-point deficit against the Tar Heels, using some key baskets from Mintz and Chris Bell late to keep the game in play. Syracuse could have easily fell apart on both sides of the floor, but this isn’t the team that was embarrassed in December. Now, with 10 games left in the year, Syracuse is ready to play.

The Orange already know how to defeat the Hokies despite them being without Hunter Cattoor in the teams’ previous matchup. Cattoor will be a threat from deep but Syracuse has developed a quick solution in terms of stopping teams from deep defensively. If the wings can continue to press up and if Mintz can continue to get his hand into passing lanes, Syracuse will only have to win the battle on the other side of the floor.

Bell had another strong game, and this is the perfect opportunity to string together back-to-back stellar performances. Mintz was rattled at the end of the game but if the ball goes to him in crunch time again, he’s shown that he can get to his spot and hit a timely shot. Add that to Joe Girard III and Jesse Edwards’ veteran offensive ability, this should give Syracuse some much-needed momentum before a final matchup against Virginia Tech’s in-state rival.

Connor Smith (18-3)
One loss becomes two
Virginia Tech 68, Syracuse 62

Tuesday’s loss to North Carolina was the sort of defeat that can derail a season. Syracuse had its best win of the season — one that would be exceptionally huge in beginning to craft an NCAA Tournament resume — right there in its hands with less than a minute left in the game. We all know what happened next. Girard dove for a loose ball that led to a game-winning UNC layup and Mintz was called for two fouls that weren’t really fouls.

For most teams, especially ones led by underclassmen like this year’s SU team is, that’s a tough loss to recover from. And while the Orange outplayed its next opponent, Virginia Tech, two weeks ago, I think the Hokies will win this one, handing Syracuse its second-straight loss. Cattoor is back for VT, and so is his team-leading 41.1% 3-point shooting mark. The Hokies couldn’t hit anything from deep last time they played SU, but with Cattoor back in the lineup, they can now spread out the zone and diversify their offense.

I still think the Orange are playing good basketball, and their defense and forwards, in particular, have really improved over recent weeks. Girard is playing like a go-to scorer, too. But with Virginia Tech finally out of its losing streak after beating Duke on Monday, Cattoor back in the lineup and Tuesday’s loss still in the heads of this Syracuse team, I expect the Hokies to come out on top.

Anthony Alandt (14-7)
Overmatched
Virginia Tech 79, Syracuse 70

Man, that was close. A tough loss for Syracuse came — once again — because the Orange’s inexperience got the best of them. You don’t need Boeheim to answer — it’s pretty clear that Syracuse can’t close out big games, a product that’s dated back to the beginning of the season. That’s fine, like Connor said above, the Orange are still playing really well and have a young core to compliment Girard and Edwards. It’s really hard to consistently win in the ACC, and Syracuse is quickly taking their licks with that reality week after week.

Last time Syracuse played Virginia Tech, it caught the Hokies in the midst of a seven-game skid on the first of three straight road games. They were without Cattoor and a late run from the Orange pulled off the win at the JMA Wireless Dome. This time, VT is coming off of a narrow win over a struggling Duke team as it welcomes a fiery Syracuse team still reeling from the loss to North Carolina. With the 41st-ranked adjusted efficiency in the country and an effective field-goal rate of 53.1%, the Hokies offense should be able to come out early and stave off the Orange.

Syracuse will almost certainly come out of the gates slow and possibly still distracted from the Tar Heels’ loss on Tuesday. A ton of things need to go right for the Orange to win — Maliq Brown, a good shooting performance from Girard, a strong, physical game from Bell, a poised game for Mintz. I just don’t see all of those things happening.

Published on January 25, 2023 at 11:21 pm