Virginia Basketball: Record night for Cavaliers in blowout win at Syracuse

Virginia Basketball rolls to a 79-53 win at Syracuse behind a record-setting shooting performance from downtown.

The No. 2 Virginia Basketball (27-2, 15-2) appeared to be on the ropes on Monday night at Syracuse (19-11, 10-7). The Orange went into halftime with a 34-32 lead and plenty of momentum. Well, the second half was a much different story as the Cavaliers outscored the Orange 47-19 in a game that resembled UVa’s win over Louisville just over a week ago.

This game was still close just over five minutes into the second half as the Cavaliers actually opened up their biggest lead of the night with a 47-43 edge. Virginia actually outscored Syracuse 37-10 over the final 14+ minutes of the game. It was during that 37-10 run where junior guard Kyle Guy took over.

On the evening, Guy scored a game-high 25 points, including connecting on eight of his 10 three-point attempts. Guy actually didn’t even attempt a shot inside the three-point line and his only other point came from the free-throw line.

Guy wasn’t Virginia’s only hot shooter. De’Andre Hunter scored 21 points, connecting on five of seven from beyond the arc, while point guard Ty Jerome hit on five of his six attempts. Jerome finished with 16, 14 assists and four steals. As a team, Virginia shot an incredible 72 percent from beyond the arc, hitting 18 of 25 three-point attempts.

The Wahoos set a school record for three-pointers made in a game and also set the Carrier Dome record for three-pointers made by an opponent. UVa’s dominance from downtown just proves how tough this team is heading into March.

Virginia’s performance against Syracuse was incredible. No one can expect the Hoos to shoot over 70 percent from three-point land again this season, however, they are already one of the best shooting teams in the nation. This isn’t a case of a team just getting for one night. Virginia has multiple guys who can light up the scoreboard and that’s something this team has lacked in recent postseasons despite an outstanding defensive squad.

The Orange were ready for this one and played a great game for about 25 minutes. They were getting inside with relative ease at times in the first half against UVa’s stingy defense. Fortunately for Virginia, head coach Tony Bennett adjusted things at halftime and the Cavaliers rolled to an easy win over a good Syracuse team.

Legendary Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said after the game this was the best Virginia team he’s seen in a long time.

The Hoos return home to Charlottesville for the regular-season finale against Louisville on Saturday. With a win, UVa will head to the ACC Tournament with the No. 1 seed and, depending on what happens in Chapel Hill between Duke and North Carolina, another outright ACC regular-season title.

But make no mistake, Virginia’s goals are much higher than a No. 1 seed in the conference tourney or the NCAA Tournament, they are chasing the school’s first-ever NCAA title and have a legit shot at winning it all.