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Syracuse led by nine with 10 minutes left in the game. At that point, there’d been eight lead changes, and something about Syracuse’s lead felt fragile. It’d blown leads against Pittsburgh — twice — and nearly blown another against Georgetown.

Then, Syracuse delivered a 13-3 run over the next three minutes. Instead of falling into 3-happy offensive lulls and allowing too many dangerous high-post touches like in previous dry spells, the rally was a microcosm of how SU built its lead in the first place: by dominating the paint on both ends. 

Alan Griffin (15 points, 10 rebounds, seven blocks) curled into the lane for a floater. Joe Girard III collected a long rebound and found Griffin streaking for a dunk. Griffin challenged a Virginia Tech layup inside, then Quincy Guerrier bodied his way into two free throws and a post score. Griffin blocked a Tyrece Radford flip shot, leading to another Guerrier finish. 

“Obviously we weren’t making a lot of 3s, but this was a game to attack the basket, get to the foul line and to try to get around the basket area. That’s what we did,” head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame.

When a media timeout eventually stopped play, SU had extended its lead to 67-48. From there, it continued to pour on, pushing its lead all the way to 23. Sixty-four of Syracuse’s 78 points came in the lane or at the free-throw line, while VT consistently missed dunks and layups.

With the 78-60 win, SU’s first top-25 victory since last January, the Orange changed the trajectory of their season. The No. 16 Hokies (11-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) entered the Carrier Dome with the 36th best NET ranking and as Syracuse’s toughest test opponent yet. Now at .500 in conference play, Syracuse (9-4, 3-3) added an impressive victory to its 2021 resume and will likely garner AP Top 25 votes. 

In 2021 thus far, Syracuse has squandered an 18-point lead to a Pittsburgh team without ACC Player of the Year contender Justin Champagnie, got crushed by the same team with said best player, handled Miami, narrowly lost to North Carolina and now upset the Hokies. SU started the year in quarantine, with both Buddy Boeheim and Girard contracting COVID-19. Through it all, the Orange are in position to make a run into the upper half of the ACC.

Virginia Tech presented SU with an arsenal of 3-point shooters and rangy, physical defenders. By attacking the rim relentlessly, the Orange neutralized the Hokies by forcing them into foul trouble and finishing in the lane. VT went stone-cold from 3 in the second half (2-of-12), allowing SU to focus on defending the rim. There, Griffin blocked seven shots and altered several more. 

Like they did against Miami, the Orange fell behind early but stormed back. Virginia Tech’s athletic, long defenders gave SU’s guards trouble outside, and SU started 0-of-5 from deep. The Orange went inside when the shots weren’t falling — Syracuse’s first 25 points all came either in the paint or at the free-throw line.

Griffin followed up a missed 3 with a putback slam, yelling “Ayyy” as he clung onto the rim. Guerrier (20 points, nine rebounds) ran the floor and finished an and-one dunk. Both forwards also made highlight-reel blocks, with Guerrier challenging two dunks and Griffin swatting a layup during an 11-0 Orange run.

Virginia Tech didn’t have an answer for Marek Dolezaj, either, whose array of flip shots around the rim always seemed to fall. He led SU with 14 first-half points and 18 total.

Marek Dolezaj played all 40 minutes, staying out of foul trouble, and notched 18 points and six rebounds. Courtesy of Mark Konezny | USA Today Sports

“Yeah, we knew we have great shooters, but we started the game not making a lot of shots,” Dolezaj said. “So we tried to go under the basket with Quincy or me. Or even Buddy drove to the lane and made his fadeaway. So that’s what we tried to do the whole game, and it worked. So we kept with that and we made three 3s. I don’t know the last time we made three 3s, you know?”

The Hokies could only foul as Syracuse attacked the rim. For the last 10:23 of the first half, VT was in the bonus, so Syracuse continued to use the post and drive to the basket. Buddy’s 3 with two minutes left in the half was SU’s first and only triple of the opening 20 minutes, but Syracuse took a 40-34 lead into halftime by shooting 46.7% from the field. 

The Orange only tried six 3s in the half and 13 total, about half its season average. 

In the second half, SU adjusted defensively to VT’s high-post-oriented scheme. It stole more attempted entry passes, and when the Hokies did get the ball to the free-throw line, the Orange anticipated drop-down passes and closed out to shooters better. VT started the second half 0-of-7 from 3 with three turnovers. When VT inserted more shooters, Syracuse took advantage of mismatches in the post.

Girard, who struggled offensively (five points), stole a bounce pass on its way to the foul line. Then another one, leading to a lefty reverse finish on the break. Griffin, Dolezaj and Guerrier affected layups inside. SU extended its lead to 53-44. 

Then, Syracuse’s 13-3 run came, and it only kept pace from there. Kadary Richmond (13 points) checked in and knifed his way into the paint, either finishing or drawing contact. Griffin and Dolezaj combined to block another dunk, frustrating Virginia Tech’s undersized frontcourt. Virginia Tech shot only 12-of-32 (37.5%) on 2-pointers, most of which came at the rim.

“Buddy and Joe didn’t shoot well, we didn’t shoot well, but that’s alright,” Boeheim said. “Our defense was good, and that was the difference in our game.”

Syracuse’s prominence inside also applied to the boards. Even while reserve center Jesse Edwards played just two minutes, the Orange won the rebounding battle and scored 16 second-chance points. Saturday’s frontcourt looked nothing like it did against Pittsburgh and North Carolina earlier in the month. Just seven days ago, SU allowed Pittsburgh to score 64 second-half points. It held the Hokies to 60 total.

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi‘s had Syracuse on the NCAA Tournament bubble for most of the season, but SU lacked anything close to a signature win — until Saturday. Until SU put together a wire-to-wire, rim-to-rim performance.

Published on January 23, 2021 at 2:15 pm

Contact Danny: [email protected] | @DannyEmerman