On Sunday, No. 13 Virginia (14-4, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) hosts Syracuse (13-7, 3-4) for a 7 p.m. game at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Orange will look for a fourth straight win against a Cavaliers team that hasn’t lost at home this season. But SU is coming off an improbable road victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium and the ACC, like all of college basketball, has turned improbable into normal in the last three months.

Here’s what you need to know about Virginia heading into the matchup.

All-time series: 3-3.

Last time they played: The Cavaliers beat the Orange, 59-47, in the Carrier Dome last March. Both teams got off to a slow start offensively, but Virginia used 17 points from Anthony Gill to ultimately surge ahead. Malcolm Brogdon, London Perrantes and Mike Tobey, all on this year’s team with Gill, each pitched in 10 points. Rakeem Christmas had one of his worst games of the season with 10 points and four rebounds, and Trevor Cooney led Syracuse with 14 points.

The Virginia report: After finishing nonconference play 11-1 and winning its first ACC game against Notre Dame, the Cavaliers dropped two straight conference games to Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech to come back down to earth. Even still, all four of UVA’s losses have come on the road and it has beaten Villanova, West Virginia, Miami and, most recently, a surging Clemson team. Virginia is heralded for its stingy pack-line man-to-man defense, but the Cavaliers have been arguably more impressive on offense this season. That doesn’t mean UVA isn’t a defensively minded team first and foremost, but it ranks seventh in the nation in Kenpom.com’s adjusted offensive efficiency, 17th in 3-point shooting at 40.1 percent and 24th with an effective field-goal percentage of 54.6. Virginia is led by the 6-foot-5 Brogdon, one of the best on-ball defenders in the country who is also averaging a team-high 16.8 points per game. Gill is a tough presence on the block and on the glass, averaging 14.8 points and a team-leading 6.1 rebounds. After that, the team’s methodical slow-paced offense is organized by Perrantes, UVA’s point guard, who averages 11.7 points and 4.2 assists a contest.

How Syracuse beats Virginia: The Orange can become the first team to beat Virginia at home this season if it can push the pace. The Cavaliers like to play slow and force their opponents to do the same. UVA’s 19.4 seconds per possession is the 344th highest of 351 teams, according to Kenpom, and its opponents average possession length of 19.1 seconds is the 349th highest. That’s on par with how teams usually attack Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, as opponents are averaging a nation-high 19.4 seconds per possession against the Orange. But SU can’t fall into the trap of regularly setting up its offense in the half court, because the Cavaliers are adept at defending screens and have a defense designed to close driving lanes while limiting good looks from the perimeter. The pick-and-roll offense was effective against Duke on Monday, but it’s likely that Brogdon will be draped all over Michael Gbinije and Perrantes will be hounding Cooney wherever he goes. That means the key to SU’s offense will be forcing turnovers and getting high-percentage shots in transition. The Orange has proven in its last two games that it can defend a team like Virginia, but the question Sunday will be if it can score enough to win.

Statistics to know: To compound the challenge of facing Virginia’s quick-sliding half-court defense, the Cavaliers are among the best in the country at taking care of the basketball. UVA’s offensive turnover percentage of 14.5 is the 10th lowest in the nation, according to Kenpom, while Syracuse’s defensive turnover percentage of 20.7 is a respectable 53rd. Whether disciplined offense beats aggressive defense, or vise versa, will be a major factor in the game.

Player to watch: Tobey has been coming off the bench for Virginia, but he has the ability to bully Syracuse on the offensive glass. Tobey isn’t a notably skilled big man, but at 7 feet and 260 pounds will be tough for the Orange to move inside. He’s a similar player to North Carolina’s Joel James and Duke’s Marshall Plumlee, both of whom SU had trouble with, in that he doesn’t stray far from the rim and is always fighting for rebounding position. He’s averaging an efficient 7.5 points in 16.2 minutes a game, but could see more playing time if Tyler Lydon, Tyler Roberson and Dajuan Coleman have trouble moving him out of the paint.

Published on January 20, 2016 at 9:56 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse