No. 6 Virginia (8-1, 1-0) at No. 22 Miami (11-1, 2-0)

8:30 p.m., ACC Network

After suffering their first loss of the season on Saturday, the Wahoos have a quick turnaround for their first ACC road game of the season.

UVa will look to get back on track with a win on their trip south to Miami, to take on a Hurricanes team that’s playing well right now.

Like Virginia, Miami comes in ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 with just one loss. Outside of that setback against Maryland, the Hurricanes have won 11 games and seven in a row heading into tonight’s matchup in the Watsco Center. The Canes have four wins over teams in the KenPom Top 100, including three away from home, and are the only team in the ACC with two league wins in the bag. Miami destroyed a struggling Louisville team on the road and then rallied from 16 down to take out NC State at home a week later.

Picked to finish fourth in the ACC preseason poll following a 26-10 (14-6) 2021-22 season that ended in the Elite Eight, the Hurricanes brought back several key players from last year’s team and added some new pieces as well. Through 12 games, they seem primed to compete for an ACC title.

So for Virginia, the time to fret about the loss to Houston is over as its attention turns to a tough challenge on the road in a conference game.

Miami enters this game as one of the most efficient teams in the ACC, and the fourth-highest ranked opponent UVa has faced according to KenPom’s rankings. The Canes are 48th after starting the season No. 42, and bouncing around between No. 34 and No. 50 through their first 12 games. One quirk of Miami’s statistical profile is that it ranks 149th in tempo, which on the surface looks unremarkable, but the Canes are the 68th-fastest team with the ball, while opponents rank 353rd in pace when they have the ball, slower than UVa’s opponents.

Miami has one of the best offenses in the country through the first two months of the season. The Hurricanes rank 12th nationally in adjusted efficiency, third in the ACC and one spot behind Virginia. Miami’s offense does plenty of things well, including scoring around the rim: The Hurricanes make 57 percent of their two’s, 20th best nationally in that category. Miami doesn’t get to the line a lot, but makes shots when guys get there (76.4 percent) Miami also does a nice job taking care of the basketball and opponents don’t block many shots, either. The Hurricanes aren’t a bad outside shooting team, but are below elite at 34 percent.

On defense, Miami is solid but not quite as dominant as on the other end of the floor. The Hurricanes rank 124th nationally in defensive efficiency. They have had plenty of solid efforts, but this team did allow 105 points to Cornell in a narrow win and 76 to a St. Francis (PA) team ranked 341st in KenPom. Miami’s defense does allow quite a few second-chance opportunities, ranking 289th nationally in offensive rebound rate allowed. Miami does a decent job creating takeaways, especially steals, ranking 51st in steals per possession.

Miami’s scoring punch comes from a talented trifecta in the backcourt along with some talented role players. Junior guard Isaiah Wong entered the transfer portal for a spell after the season but was convinced to stay in Coral Gables, which proved to be a big boost to the program. He leads the team in scoring with 16.7 points per contest. Wong is showing 36.2 percent from 3 and is coming off of back-to-back 22-point games, having also scored 36 points in the shootout win over Cornell. He has been an excellent distributor too, averaging 4.4 assists per contest; the 6-foot-4 guard had a 10 assist effort on Saturday against Saint Francis.

Loudoun County native Jordan Miller is also back for the Canes, and is having a great start to his senior year. The 6-foot-7 wing is averaging 15.1 points per contest and scored 25 points in the comeback win over NC State.

Transfer point guard Nijel Pack has had an immediate impact as well. The 6-foot point guard who joined the Hurricanes from Kansas State is scoring 11.3 points per contest and has fit right in with his new teammates in new surroundings.

Another transfer added to the Miami roster was 6-foot-7 forward Norchad Omier, who has also made an immediate impact in Coral Gables. The former Arkansas State forward was one of the best players in the Sun Belt last year and while he hasn’t been quite as good statistically he is playing his role and fitting in nicely on a good ACC team. Omier is scoring 13.8 points and grabbing 9.9 rebounds per contest, with two double-doubles in Miami’s last three games.

Tonight’s game should be another difficult test for a UVa team that has already seen so many. That experience should help, and while Miami has a great record to date, UVa is easily the best team the Hurricanes have played so far this season.

Reece Beekman clearly isn’t all the way back yet and it will be interesting to see how UVa deploys him against Miami and how he looks on just two days rest. Regardless of whether Beekman is 100 percent or not, the rest of UVa’s roster needs to be more efficient on the offensive end. Virginia’s numbers have trailed off on that end of the floor in recent weeks, and this would be a great game to see the Hoos knock down some shots and get back on track.

This one could go either way and the fact that it’s a road test makes it even tougher for the Hoos. But right now, we trust UVa just a little more than Miami, though the Hurricanes have a great opportunity to prove us wrong, just as the Cavaliers have a great opportunity for a big ACC road win.