ACC Basketball: Syracuse upsets No. 9 Virginia; Wins fourth straight
Syracuse knocks off ACC basketball opponent Virginia, 66-62, at the Carrier Dome in Jim Boeheim’s 1,000 career win.
The Syracuse Orange have defeated their second straight top-10 opponent, knocking off No. 9 Virginia, 66-62, on Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome.
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The Orange have won four straight contests and are finally competing at the level they are capable of after struggling greatly early in the season.
This game technically marked Jim Boeheim’s 1,000 career win. Boeheim did have 108 career wins stripped off his record due to NCAA violations that continued on for about a decade, lowering his “career total” to 892 wins.
Virginia’s defense gave Syracuse tons of problems early on. The Cavaliers held the Orange to only 22 first half points and forced eight turnovers, giving Virginia a 12-point lead at halftime. Mamadi Diakite led the Cavaliers with eight points in the first half.
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The second half was a completely different story, though.
Syracuse surged on a 9-0 run to begin the second half and didn’t allow a single point from the opposition for seven minutes.
The Carrier Dome erupted after Tyler Lydon drilled an incredibly long three-pointer to give the Orange their first second half lead at 39-36. Syracuse never lost the lead after Lydon’s three.
It appeared as if there could be a momentum shift after London Perrantes knocked down a long three-pointer with two minutes remaining in regulation. Perrantes silenced the crowd and cut Syracuse’s lead down to two, 58-56.
Exactly a minute later, Perrantes hit another three, putting the Orange’s lead at only one. A pair of free throws from both Tyus Battle and Andrew White III iced the victory for Syracuse.
Tyus Battle had no issues with Virginia’s defense in the second half. The freshman scored 13 points in the second half alone and went to the charity stripe on four different occasions. He totaled a career-high 23 points and shot 7-of-11 from the field.
Andrew White III had 23 points for the Orange as well. The Nebraska transfer added five rebounds and three steals.
The Cavaliers were outscored 44-28 in the second half. Kyle Guy led all scorers for Virginia, posting 14 points off the bench. London Perrantes had 11 points and eight assists.
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Syracuse, now 15-9 overall and 7-4 in conference play, heads to Clemson to face the Tigers on February 7th. Virginia, now 17-5 overall, hosts the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals on February 7th.