Virginia Cavaliers vs Syracuse Orange Prediction, 3/8/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Virginia Cavaliers vs Syracuse Orange

Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025

Location: JMA Wireless Dome in Provo, UT

TV: ESPN+

The Virginia Cavaliers (15-15) are traveling to JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday where they will meet the Syracuse Orange (12-18).

The Virginia Cavaliers stepped onto the hardwood against Florida State and notched a win by a score of 60-57 in their last contest. When discussing fouls, the Cavaliers walked away with 12 and Florida State racked up 15 fouls. They also converted 7 of their 22 tries from distance. Florida State finished the game shooting 57.1% at the charity stripe by knocking down 4 of 7 shots. Additionally, Florida State collected 33 rebounds (12 offensive, 21 defensive), but didn't notch a block. Florida State earned 12 dimes and had 7 steals in this contest. In terms of defending, Virginia allowed the other team to shoot 37.1% from the field on 23 out of 62 shooting. They also distributed 15 dimes in the game while creating 8 turnovers and getting 3 steals. Regarding rebounding, they collected 26 with 6 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Cavaliers buried 7 of their 9 shots for a percentage of 77.8%. Virginia walked away from the contest with a 39.6% FG percentage (21 of 53) and converted 11 out of their 24 shots from 3-point land.

Dai Dai Ames is a player who was a major factor for the contest. He totaled 18 points on 6 out of 11 shooting. He was on the court for 37 minutes played and also collected 3 boards. He ended up going 54.5% from the floor and also dished out 3 assists.

Get all of our NCAA Betting Picks

Virginia comes into this one with a mark of 15-15 for the campaign. They are turning it over 10.1 times per contest and as a group they commit 15.1 fouls per contest. As a unit, Virginia is grabbing 29.8 boards per contest and has tallied 454 dimes on the year, which is 92nd in D-1 in terms of passing. The Cavaliers are connecting on 38.0% on three-point attempts (254 of 669) and 75.2% from the free throw line. They average 64.8 pts per game (355th in Division 1) while connecting on 44.7% from the field.

When they are on the defensive end, the Cavaliers have forced 9.4 turnovers every game while drawing 13.8 fouls. They are currently ranked 57th in college in giving up assists to the opposition with 353 conceded for the year. The Cavaliers defense is allowing a field goal percentage of 43.7% (712 of 1,629) and they relinquish 32.6 boards per game as a unit. They are giving up 34.1% from 3-point land and they rank 36th in college hoops in points per game allowed (66.2).

In their last game, the Syracuse Orange took a defeat with a final score of 77-75 when they played SMU. The Orange collected 22 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 32 for this game. They gave up possession of the ball 12 times, while recording 1 steal in this contest. SMU committed 18 fouls in this game which got the Orange to the free throw line for a total of 19 attempts. They were able to knock down 14 of them for a rate of 73.7%. In relation to shots from beyond the perimeter, Syracuse buried 9 of 22 attempts (40.9%). When the final whistle blew, the Orange shot 26 for 54 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 48.1%. The Orange allowed SMU to convert 30 of their 56 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 53.6% in this contest. They went 36.4% from behind the 3-point line by connecting on 4 of 11 and finished the contest at 13 out of 27 from the charity stripe (48.1%). In regard to cleaning the glass, Syracuse allowed SMU to pull down 26 in total (10 offensive).

Lucas Taylor was important for the Orange for the game. He buried 5 out of 7 for this game for a field goal percentage of 71.4%, and had 3 rebounds. He recorded 13 points in his 16 minutes on the court and had 1 assist for the game.

Syracuse has a win-loss mark of 12-18 on the campaign. The Orange have committed 16.3 fouls every game and they shoot 70.7% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 13.7 times per contest (180th in D-1) and they are turning it over 12.5 times per contest. Syracuse has accumulated 2,261 points on the year (75.4 per game) and they pull in 37.4 rebounds per game. When it comes to executing on offense, the Orange are shooting 45.7% from the field, which is ranked 130th in Division 1.

The Orange on the defensive side of the court are 336th in college in PPG allowed with 78.7. They are forcing 9.6 TO's per game and have allowed teams to shoot 46.1% from the field (309th in D-1). The Syracuse defense gives up 34.7% on shots from beyond the perimeter (249 of 717) and opponents are knocking down 71.8% of their shots from the free throw line. They surrender 13.5 assists and 33.8 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 217th and 154th in the nation.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Syracuse

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here