Highlights & Recap: Syracuse Falls to Virginia
Virginia’s seventh straight win would mean Syracuse’s third straight loss.
Head Coach Jim Boehem says the team played their best game of the season by holding the seventh-ranked team in the country to just a five-point difference, losing 67-62.
“Virginia is really good. They beat us just like they beat everybody else,” Boeheim said.
The first four minutes of the game saw Virginia take a quick 14-6 lead thanks to finishing their first five shots; eight points of which came from Gardner.
The game was tied three times in the last three minutes of the first half, and the Orange only trailed by one, 36-35.
Four minutes into the second, Virginia held a 44-37 lead before Syracuse would go up by five after going on a 14-2 run. With just over 10 minutes left to play.
The Cavaliers tied it at 57-57 all with five minutes to go, and scored 10 of the last 15 points to prevail.
The Cavaliers now hold the longest active winning streak in the ACC.
While Judah Mintz had 20 points and Jesse Edwards had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Orange, Virginia’s Jayden Gardner led the way to the Cavaliers win with 17 points and eight boards of his own.
Joe Girard, who is averaging 19 points per game in the month of January, only scored seven.
Maliq Brown got his second straight career start and played every minute of the night’s contest, scoring eight points and seven rebounds.
Benny Williams took his “personal day” and was not at the game.
The Orange had a season-high 11 steals and outscored Virginia in the paint, 36-20. But they made only three of 15 from behind the arc and went 11 of 18 from the charity stripe.
“We had a lot of open shots, and you’re not going to beat Virginia if you shoot three for 15 from the 3. We got to the foul line and that’s not that easy to do against Virginia. They don’t foul a lot. We missed seven and that’s pretty much the game right there.”
Boeheim said that if they would have made their free throws, Syracuse would have won the game.
But should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.
Syracuse will face Boston College next on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. The Orange played them last back in December and won 79-65 at home.
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