Mamadi Diakite scored 12 points, Jay Huff added 11 and 12 rebounds, and No. 11 Virginia shut down Syracuse 48-34 on Wednesday night.

The Cavaliers (1-0, 1-0 ACC) became the first defending NCAA champion to start the next season with a true road game since UCLA opened the 1967-1968 season at Purdue. They have a 12-game winning streak in ACC openers and are 11-0 in ACC openers under head coach Tony Bennett.

UVa had held the Orange to 68 or fewer points in each of the previous eight meetings between the teams and this one followed form. Syracuse shot 13 of 55 (23.6) and was outrebounded 47-28, falling behind early and never managing to stage any sort of comeback against the Cavaliers’ Pack-Line defense. It marked the first time the Orange hadn’t scored 40 points since 2013 at Georgetown (39) and it was the fewest points they've ever scored under Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse lost the bulk of its scoring with the early departures of Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett and Frank Howard, who exhausted his eligibility. Elijah Hughes is the lone returning starter on a team with five freshmen and finished with a team-high 14 points, the only player in double figures.

But Virginia lost its top three players from last season’s national championship team. Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome, and De’Andre Hunter departed early to enter the NBA draft. Sophomore guard Kihei Clark (who had his first career double-double with 10 points, 11 boards, and seven assists) and Diakite are the two returning starters.

In Virginia’s 79-53 win over Syracuse last March in the Carrier Dome, the Cavaliers matched a school record by hitting 18 3-pointers in 25 tries (72 percent), the most the Orange had ever allowed, and Hunter, Guy and Jerome were the marksmen. They were the first trio of teammates in ACC history to make five or more 3-pointers in the same game.

That accuracy was gone in this game. Virginia shot 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) from behind the arc. Syracuse finished just a tad better at 5 of 29 (17.2%).

The rust from the offseason was on full display in the first 10 minutes as UVa gained a 10-2 lead despite hitting just one of seven shots from behind the arc. The Orange started 1-for-13, including five missed 3s, the only make a layup by Bourama Sidibe that gave them a 2-0 lead. Syracuse trailed 25-19 at halftime, matching the team record for fewest points in a half since the Carrier Dome opened in 1980. They made seven of 27 (25.9) while the Cavaliers were 11 of 24 (45.8 percent), all but one of their misses from long range.