After a shaky start to the season, Virginia has won six straight games and will look to keep the streak going Monday when it hosts the Syracuse Orange.

Virginia’s hallmark is slowing games to a crawl with its pack-line defense, which can cause what they do on offense to get lost. The Cavaliers have been the most improved offensive in terms of points scored per possession among all Division I teams, ranking sixth in the country in points per possession this season after being 322nd in that category last season.

Syracuse’s defense has been significantly different home vs. road, ranking 47th in points allowed on a per-possession basis at home compared to 266th on the road. The Orange are 1-3 in road games this season.

Monday’s matchup involves two of the best in college basketball in free-throw shooting. Virginia ranks fourth in the nation making 80.4 percent while Syracuse is converting 78.9 percent, good for 13th. Seven-foot-one forward Jay Huff is making 85.7 percent of his free throws for the Cavaliers.

Of the made field goals Syracuse is giving up, 64.7 involve an assist, the eighth-highest mark in the nation. With the Cavaliers ranking fifth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio, this figures to be a bad matchup for the Orange.

The play: Virginia, -6.