Though the Cavaliers led from start to finish, building a lead of as much as 23 points in the second half, a seven-minute scoring drought gave the Oranges a chance to come back and set up some late-game drama.
Finally, Virginia sealed a 73-66 win over Syracuse at the John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday. The win gave Tony Bennett his 327th win at UVA and surpassed Terry Holland as the most successful head coach in the history of the Virginia men’s basketball program.
After a strong first-half start, the Cavaliers held an 11-point lead at halftime that was extended to 23 at one point in the second half. The start was credited to Virginia, who tore apart the Syracuse zone to create consistent open views from across the arc. UVA shot 12/26 from three-point land, including 7/13 in the first half. Midway through the second half, the Cavaliers suffered a goal gap of over seven minutes that allowed the Oranges to cut their lead to just seven with less than a minute to go. Despite the fear, the Cavaliers converted their free throws on the stretch to stave off a colossal collapse.
Armaan Franklin led the Hoos by 16 points, including a 3/3 start from three-point arc to give the Cavaliers an early 11-2 lead. Reece Beekman and Isaac McNeely then added to Franklin’s hot start as the two each made a three. The 5/5 start from three-point range put the Hoos to a 20-9 lead.
McNeely inherited the hot hand and hit two more three-pointers to put the Cavaliers 28-16 ahead. McNeely finished the game with 12 points, shooting 4/7 from three. Defensively, Virginia forced nine Syracuse turnovers and took full advantage by scoring 13 points from orange errors in the first half.
Later in the first half, fifth-year Jayden Gardner recorded his 1,000. rebound of his NCAA career and joined Ralph Sampson as the only other Cavalier to have 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career. Gardner is now the only active player in Division I men’s basketball with 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
The Cavaliers continued to extend their lead with a 7-0 run that included three points from graduate student Kihei Clark and four from Gardner. Then UVA’s offensive went cold in the last minutes of the first half. When the clock ran out, Virginia chose not to hold the ball for the final shot and ended up turning the ball over. That decision resulted in four Syracuse points, capping an 8-0 run for a 35-26 score at halftime. Virginia’s lead, which was once 17, has been reduced to just nine.
Despite the sloppy end to the first half, it was all Virginia to start the second. The Cavaliers erased the Orange’s momentum and opened the second half on a 12-0 run that included a three from Franklin, two offensive rebounds and four Virginia steals in that span.
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Ben Vander Plas added two threes to Virginia’s sparkling start and gave the Hoos a 23-point lead, the widest of the game. Virginia’s attack then fell silent again, missing eight straight shots while Syracuse fired back on a 13-0 run.
The nearly eight-minute scoring drought highlights a key area for improvement for the Cavaliers moving forward. Long droughts have plagued Virginia all season when Syracuse knocked on the door with a 16-3 run that cut the lead to nine. The full court press, a tool Jim Boeheim used frequently in games against Virginia, rattled the Cavaliers and added to their offensive struggles.
With four free throws made, Virginia managed to win 61:50. Then, after more than eight minutes without a field goal for the Cavaliers, Beekman ended the losing streak with an important three-pointer. The Orange then responded with two threes, cutting the lead to eight.
Beekman then produced three points and an assist between one-game and one-game from freshman Judah Mintz to reduce the lead to nine. Thanks to an additional four points from Beekman from the Charity Stripe and a key block from Junior Kadin Shedrick, the Cavaliers held off Syracuse 73-66.
Virginia was in complete control for longer stretches of the game, but allowing Syracuse to come back and make a game of it late showed there’s certainly room for improvement for the Hoos progressing in the ACC game. Now 11-3 and 3-2 in the ACC, Virginia will face North Carolina at 9 p.m. Tuesday at the John Paul Jones Arena.
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