The Syracuse University men's basketball team has had a few days to try to cleanse itself of a very disappointing 81-73 loss against Boston College on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles were 0-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) prior to that victory, which dealt a swift blow to the Orange in their quest to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020-21.

Syracuse will be back at the JMA Wireless Dome on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET when they host Virginia Tech. The Orange are 12-6 overall and 3-2 inside the league.

A former Big East rival of Syracuse, VA Tech enters play at 14-5 overall, but just 3-3 inside the ACC.

The Hokies have power conference wins over Providence (Big East), South Carolina (SEC), and Virginia, Cal and Notre Dame (ACC).

As for the losses: They've been beaten by St. Mary's, VCU, Wake Forest, Stanford and SMU. Losses to Stanford and SMU were by one point each, meaning Virginia Tech is two points away from being 5-1 in the league. That said, the overall schedule has been generally soft.

Syracuse and Virginia Tech both beat St. Joseph's, but VT beat the Owls in a lopsided affair, 94-59. 

--Virginia Tech features a balanced scoring attack, with five players averaging in double-figures. Amani Hansberry (15.8), Neoklis Avdais (13.9), Tobi Lawal (12.4), Ben Hammond (11.7) and Jailen Bedford (10.3) are those players.

--Lawal has only played in 10 games, but he's played in four straight contests.

--The team shoots 45.8 percent from the floor and 73 percent from the foul line, and they average nearly 15 assists and 7 steals per game.

--Adrian Autry's team is going to have to hold onto the ball better than it did on Saturday, when it committed 18 turnovers, seven of which were by point guard Naithan George.

--Syracuse will have to get a triple-threat scoring wise. Donnie Freeman and JJ Starling both need to perform, but Nate Kingz, George, Kiyan Anthony or Tyler Betsey need to join them. 

--SU also hasn't been as good defensively lately, allowing 81 points to the Eagles, including 17 in overtime, and 86 points against Florida State just last week.

Our own Tom Goslowski will be at the game in person and you can follow him on social media @TomGozz and engage with him in our community section, located on our homepage.

--After seeing Indiana win the national title in football on Monday night, are there any excuses for the Syracuse University football team and its fans? We discuss here.

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