Syracuse keeping teams in tears, upsets no. 9 Virginia, 66-62

By Brianna Adams 
Photos by Kelsey Snider

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—As Tyus Battle snagged the rebound after a missed 3 from London Perrantes, fans were well out of their seats as the Carrier Dome erupted Saturday afternoon celebrating Syracuse's huge comeback to upset No. 9 Virginia, 66-62.

While the total is not official according to the NCAA, Jim Boeheim's 15^th win of the season also marks the head coach’s 1,000th win coaching the Orange.

It was the fourth straight win for Syracuse (15-9, 7-4 ACC) and the second over a Top Ten team in eight days, after the victory over Florida State last Saturday.

“Obviously, four games ago we were in a really deep hole we had to work our way out of and they’ve done a great job," Boeheim said.

Cavaliers First Half Dominance

Virginia (17-5,7-3)came out of the gate strong figuring out the famous SU zone almost immediately. Syracuse started off forcing some Cavaliers' turnovers but failed to capitalize against the No.1 defensive team in the country. Coming off of a 43-point game Wednesday at North Carolina State, John Gillon could not solve that Cavalier defense. The starting point guard guard did not put up any points in the first half with just three attempts.

Virginia used the Orange's offensive struggles to its advantage securing the lead from the beginning. Off the bench, Kyle Guy governed behind the arc late in the first half adding to an 8-0 Virginia run to put a stamp on its dominance against the Orange heading into the locker room, 34-22.

Deja Vu

The last time a comeback this big happened was when the two teams met in the Elite Eight round of the 2016 NCAA tournament. Rewind to last year.

Syracuse was a 10 seed and Virginia was number one. Virginia came out on fire and led after the first half 35-21. The Orange trailed by as many as 16 in the second half before coming back to upset the Cavaliers 68-62 and make the Final Four.  

Fast forward to Saturday. 

Again Syracuse struggled early and fell behind by 12 at the half. Once again the Orange came out for the second half looking like a completely different team. 

 In the first three minutes, Andrew White III drilled 3 three-pointers and Tyus Battle knocked down a three of his own to tie the game back up at 36. 

Battle and White led the Orange with 23 total points each, a career high for the freshman Battle. After a layup from Gillon, the Orange took the lead for the first time in the game with twelve minutes remaining. 

"In the second half, [Syracuse] spread us out and they attacked. Those wings are good," Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett said. "They're physical and tough. They can create their own."

With the largest college game crowd this season, 27,553 in the building, spirits were up, the crowd noise was ear-shattering and the Orange players were motivated to finish this game out. UVA threatened Syracuse near the end after a three from Perrantes that cut the lead to one, but Syracuse had a mission to complete. And it succeeded.

"It feels great," Battle said. "As a team, we all bond and we know we are trying to make the [NCAA] Tournament, so we knew we would have to go on a big run. We were moving with our hands up and we were fighting."

Monumental Win

 Boeheim has now handed 1,000 losses to his opponents. Due to NCAA violations, he was officially stripped of 101 wins so in the record books he is at 899 victories. Yet it was clear to all the fans that this was number 1,000.

The stands were covered with signs commemorating the win. Although the university and Boeheim could not technically celebrate the win, the coach was extremely heartfelt and gracious following the monumental win. 

"I know how many wins I've had and I'm very proud of that," Boeheim said.

Fear the Man Bun

Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett used all of his resources in the game against Syracuse. The bench came out fighting with Guy and his trademark "man bun" leading with 14 points, Ty Jerome (9) and Mamadi Diakite (8) were just shy of double digits.

In the second half, Guy was a clear threat after his run earlier. Every time Guy was in shooting position, the crowd let out gasps and became eerily silent. Guy also snapped Syracuse’s 9-0 run to start off the second half. In the last four games Guy played he scored a total 14 points, in this game alone he had 14 points on the day.

Looking Ahead

Syracuse looks to continue its hot streak looking for a fifth straight win, heading down to South Carolina to face ACC opponent Clemson Tuesday night at 8:00.

“We are going to enjoy this one for a couple hours here, but we need to get focused," Tyler Lydon said.

Virginia will return to Charlottesville to face a tough opponent in No. 6 Louisville.