Syracuse (19-11, 10-7 Atlantic Coast) held a halftime lead over No. 2 Virginia (27-2, 15-2). But that didn’t hold because Virginia couldn’t miss from 3-point range, and the Cavaliers won, 79-53. The Orange play their final regular season game at Clemson on Saturday.

Here are three takeaways from SU’s loss.

You get a 3, you get a 3 and you get a 3

Virginia made two 2-pointers in the first half. But that didn’t stop the Cavaliers from scoring. Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome both made three triples, and De’Andre Hunter made two of his own. Guy took a 3 from NBA range on the right wing and cashed it. Jerome stepped back in Buddy Boeheim’s face to hit a left wing 3.

It didn’t stop out of the break. Jerome, Guy and Hunter all added 3s within the first six minutes of the second half to stake UVA to a two-point advantage, 45-43. Another Jerome 3 from the top of the key prompted a timeout with UVA up 50-43 and 11:40 to play. A minute-plus later, Guy swished a 3 to prompt another timeout by SU head coach Jim Boeheim.

Overall, the Cavaliers shot 18-of-25 from beyond the 3-point arc, a record for made 3s in a game against the Orange.

No show

The most-frequent image of Monday’s game, aside from Virginia 3s, might’ve been Tyus Battle and Boeheim raising their arms at the referees in sync. Again and again, Battle rose up for jumpers and floaters, often with contact, and the whistles he and his head coach wanted never came.

Beyond that, when UVA’s NBA-prospect Hunter guarded Battle, he wasn’t able to get any penetration. He tried a pull-up jumper from the right elbow that Hunter blocked away hard. Battle could choose to leave for the NBA Draft after the season. If he does, Battle finished his Carrier Dome career with 11 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

Big start to senior night

Paschal Chukwu made four shots at Wake Forest, all four he attempted, giving hope that he’d heat up down the stretch of his senior season. But Virginia, one of the country’s best teams, would present a bigger challenge than ACC bottom-dweller WFU.

But the 7-foot-2 senior, on senior day, scored eight first-half points. That included a dunk off an alley-oop and another dunk on a put-back rebound.

Chukwu’s play slowed down in the second half. UVA’s defense played a little closer to the big man. But his early play could still be what Boeheim called on Saturday “a very good sign.”

Published on March 4, 2019 at 8:54 pm

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