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Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse men’s basketball team will host Virginia Tech on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the JMA Wireless Dome.
Both teams are currently trying to work their way onto the NCAA Tournament bubble, which likely makes this an elimination game for the loser when it comes to earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Syracuse (18-10, 9-8 ACC) is looking for its third consecutive win and its fifth in its past seven games.
Virginia Tech (15-12, 7-9) had a very up-and-down performance last week with a blowout win over Virginia and a lopsided loss to Pittsburgh. The Hokies have lost five of their past seven games.
The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Live stats are available here.
See betting odds and score prediction here.
Note: Refresh this page throughout Syracuse’s game vs. Virginia Tech to see the latest updates
First half
15:10: Syracuse gets off to an 8-4 lead in the early-going. Orange are playing excellent defense. Haven’t given much any at all. Maliq Brown is involved and off to a strong start for Syracuse. He already has a bucket, a rebound and an assist.
Hunter Cattoor also has one foul already while guarding Judah Mintz. It was a tough call on Cattoor who was called for getting his chest into Mintz on a jumper. Probably a good call but a tough one for Virginia Tech’s best defender to stomach early when he only has four more.
Pregame
The game is Senior Day for Syracuse, which will honor center Mounir Hima in a pre-game ceremony, although he does have a year of eligibility remaining.
The game is currently a Quadrant 2 game.
It will be interesting to see how Virginia Tech’s guards try to stay in front of Syracuse guards Judah Mintz, JJ Starling and Quadir Copeland. The Hokies don’t get many steals and blocks and aren’t particularly big or athletic at guard. Cattoor is considered the best defender.
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young does recruit players that are skilled passes and shooters, and the Hokie guards are experienced It will be interesting to see how well Syracuse can force turnovers from veterans Sean Padulla and Cattoor.
Padulla is Virginia Tech’s leading scorer at 15.6 points per game, while Cattoor is next at 13.7.
Chris Bell is shooting 59.2 percent from 3-point range over his last six games for Syracuse.
The two teams are the least likely in the ACC to secure an offensive rebound. Virginia Tech grabs only 22.3 percent of its misses, while Syracuse grabs only 21.9 percent.
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