Syracuse Orange vs Virginia Cavaliers Prediction, 2/7/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Syracuse Orange vs Virginia Cavaliers

Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026

Location: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA

TV: ESPN+

John Paul Jones Arena is where the Virginia Cavaliers (19-3) will try to defeat the Syracuse Orange (13-10) on Saturday.

The Syracuse Orange faced North Carolina and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 87-77 in their last contest. When discussing fouls, the Orange ended up finishing with 24 and North Carolina finished the game with 19 fouls. They also buried 8 of 18 attempts from distance. North Carolina finished the game shooting 71.4% at the charity stripe by making 25 of their 35 tries. In addition, North Carolina grabbed 37 rebounds (11 offensive, 26 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. North Carolina doled out 16 assists and had 3 steals in this game. Regarding defending, Syracuse allowed their opponent to shoot 48.2% from the field on 27 out of 56 shooting. They also dished out 7 dimes for the contest in addition to forcing 11 turnovers and having 6 steals. In reference to grabbing rebounds, they earned a total of 28 with 10 of them being of the offensive sort. At the free throw line, the Orange converted 13 of 19 shots for a rate of 68.4%. Syracuse wrapped up the game having earned a 44.6% field goal percentage (29 of 65) and converted 6 of their 18 shots from 3-point land.

Donnie Freeman is one player who had an impact for this game. He walked away with 23 points on 8 of 14 shooting. He was on the court for 35 minutes played and also totaled 8 rebounds. He ended up shooting 57.1% from the field but had no assists when the time ran out.

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Syracuse will enter this game with a win-loss record of 13-10 this year. They are averaging 75.8 points per outing (191st in college) while hitting 47.0% from the floor. The Orange are shooting 33.7% on 3-point shots (163 of 484) and 63.3% from the charity stripe. As a team, Syracuse is pulling down 35.0 boards per contest and is sitting with 305 dimes for the campaign, which ranks 235th in the country in terms of passing the rock. They lose possession by turning the ball over 11.3 times per game and as a team are committing 16.8 fouls every game.

On the defensive end, the Orange are able to force 13.1 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.7 personal fouls. They rank 177th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 303 relinquished so far this season. The Orange defense is giving up a FG percentage of 42.5% (570 of 1,342) and they surrender 36.3 boards per contest as a unit. They are giving up 32.1% on shots from downtown and they are 98th in the country in points per game from their opponents (70.7).

The last time they took the hardwood, the Virginia Cavaliers went home victorious with a score of 67-47 against Pittsburgh. The Cavaliers pulled down 22 defensive rebounds and 12 offensive boards totaling 34 in this matchup. They gave up possession of the ball 9 times, while recording 12 steals for this contest. Pittsburgh earned 14 fouls for this contest which got the Cavaliers to the free throw line for 9 attempts. They were able to make 4 of those for a percentage of 44.4%. In the matter of 3-point attempts, Virginia knocked down 11 of 31 attempts (35.5%). Overall, the Cavaliers went 26 for 59 from the floor which had them at 44.1%. The Cavaliers allowed Pittsburgh to convert 17 out of their 46 attempts from the field which had them shooting 37.0% for this game. They shot 31.6% from behind the 3-point line by going 6 of 19 and finished the game at 7 out of 12 from the charity stripe (58.3%). With respect to cleaning the glass, Virginia permitted Pittsburgh to get 28 in total (6 on the offensive side).

Sam Lewis was important for the Cavaliers for the matchup. He totaled 15 points in his 27 mins of playing time and accounted for 1 assist for this contest. He converted 5 of 10 in this game for a field goal rate of 50.0%, and had 3 rebounds.

Virginia has a record of 19-3 for the season. As an offense, the Cavaliers are hitting on 47.0% from the floor, which is ranked 85th in the country. Virginia has scored 1,832 points this season (83.3 per game) and they pull in 41.6 boards per game. They are dishing out assists 17.1 times per contest (42nd in the nation) and they lose possession by turning the ball over 10.6 times per contest. The Cavaliers are committing 19.0 personal fouls per contest while shooting 70.3% from the charity stripe.

The Cavaliers are ranked 52nd in the nation in PPG given up with 68.3. They have forced 11.0 TO's per game and have let teams shoot 39.4% from the field (18th in college). The Virginia defense gives up 30.3% on shots from 3-point land (145 of 479) and opponents are making 72.4% of their free throw shots. They allow 11.5 assists and 32.7 rebounds every game, which has them ranked 44th and 78th in those categories on the defensive end.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Syracuse

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