For the second time in as many home games, Syracuse fans stormed the court. Jim Boeheim unofficially earned the 1,000th win of his career, as SU (15-9, 7-4 Atlantic Coast) beat No. 9 Virginia (17-5, 7-3), 66-62 on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. Here’s three takeaways from the game.

Closing time

In a string of close games against Wake Forest, Florida State and NC State, Boeheim has lauded his team’s ability to make plays in the final minutes. Against FSU, Gillon converted 11-of-12 free throws to put the game away. It was Gillon again against the Wolfpack, who kept SU alive with a deep 3 that tied the game with 1.1 left on the clock.

In the final three minutes of Saturday’s game, there was no prolonged free-throw contest or heroic 43-point games. The Orange and Cavaliers exchanged blows in the final three minutes, with SU getting to the basket like it hadn’t been able to all game. London Perrantes cut under Syracuse’s zone to make it 64-62 with under 20 seconds to go.

Andrew White was then fouled with 15.7 remaining, and sunk both free throws to make it 66-62 and put the game away.

Toe-to-toe

For all the credit Virginia gets on the defensive end, Syracuse did its part to match up evenly with the Cavaliers. SU was able to catapult itself ahead of UVA in the second half by forcing five turnovers in the first 10 minutes. Highlighting those was a tipped a pass out of Jarred Reuter’s hands and into Tyler Lydon’s. The sophomore sprinted down the court to the top of the key, and Carrier Dome crowd hit a crescendo as Lydon buried a 3 to give Syracuse a 39-36 lead, its first of the game.

Lydon forced another turnover on the next possession, smothering a pass destined for London Perrantes. Lydon fed the ball ahead to John Gillon, who dropped in a fast-break layup. The Orange scored 20 points off turnovers in total, nine in the second half.

Traffic jam

In the first 20 minutes against Virginia, Gillon looked like a shadow of the player who had scored 43 points just a day prior. The speedy point guard, who’s found immense success against defenses that allow him to drive the paint, had no such benefit against the Cavaliers’ top-ranked defense.

The result was a scoreless first half for Gillon, and a Syracuse offense that had to funnel through uncomfortable shots around the arc. SU has proven this year that 3-point shooters like Andrew White and Tyus Battle are only as productive as the Orange’s point guards allow them to be. It’s been a struggle throughout Atlantic Coast Conference play for Syracuse to create its own shot around the arc, and that was a byproduct of SU’s inability to dribble drive against the Cavaliers.

After Syracuse’s lowest-scoring first half of the season, the Orange streaked on a 19-2 run to start the second. That vaulted SU ahead, 39-36, in a run punctuated by four 3s. SU never did find much success in the paint, but it did around the arc.

Published on February 4, 2017 at 2:03 pm

Contact Connor: cgrossma@syr.edu | @connorgrossman