Syracuse tries for its first win away from the Dome this season
Teams: Syracuse Orange (9-12, 2-9) vs. Virginia Cavaliers (3-17, 0-10)
Day & Time: Tuesday, February, 8, 6 p.m. ET
Location: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, VA
TV/Streaming: ACC Network Extra
Radio: Cuse.com, ESPN 97.7
Rivalry: Syracuse, 8-5
Current Streak: Syracuse, 1
First Meeting: Virginia came away with an 84-61 win in Syracuse back in December 1985.
Last Meeting: The teams didn’t meet last season thanks to COVID getting in the way. They last met in the 2020 ACC Tournament in Greensboro, with the Orange winning 67-50. Syracuse held Virginia to three points in the final quarter to pull away. Amaya Finklea-Guity had 15 to lead the Orange.
Head Coaches: Syracuse – Vonn Read (1st year, 9-12) | Virginia – Tina Thompson (4th year, 28-58)
Coach Bio: Thompson played college basketball at USC and made three All-PAC 10 teams during her time as a Trojan. After graduating in 1997, she enjoyed a decorated professional career which included Olympic medals for Team USA in 2004 and 2008 and retired from the WNBA in 2013 as the league’s leading scorer.
After her playing days were over, Thompson broke into coaching as an assistant at Texas ahead of the 2015-16 season. She remained in Austin for three seasons before taking the head role at Virginia in April 2018. She’s yet to have a winning season in three-plus years in Charlottesville.
Last Year: Virginia started 2020-21 with five consecutive losses and suspended the rest of its season after dealing with COVID issues. They were 0-2 against ACC foes.
“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: Amandine Toi is second on the Cavs in scoring with 12 points per game. She’s Virginia’s volume shooter, leading the team in attempts from the floor and from three-point range. The Orange will need to force other Virginia players to beat them.
If Syracuse Wins: This is the first game in a while where it feels like Syracuse is a solid favorite. A win would mean a boost in morale and would also be their first road victory of 2021-22.
If Syracuse Loses: It would be Syracuse’s worse loss of the season by a pretty wide margin.
Fun Fact: Three-time NBA Finals winner James Posey is on the UVA staff as an assistant coach. Bonus fun fact: this game was originally scheduled for Jan. 16 but got delayed because of bad weather.