Fast reaction: 3 quick observations from Syracuse’s 12-point loss to No. 2 UVA
Margaret Lin | Web Developer
Trevor Cooney looks for an opening while being defended by Virginia guard London Perrantes. Syracuse jumped out to a 13-2 lead, but ultimately fell by 12 points.
Syracuse (18-12, 9-8 Atlantic Coast) fell to No. 2 Virginia (28-1, 16-1), 59-47, in the Carrier Dome on Monday night.
Here are three quick reactions from the last home game of the Orange’s season.
1. Paint battle
After being honored as a part of his senior night before the game, Rakeem Christmas never got comfortable in the paint. The Cavaliers were particularly effective in trapping him whenever he caught the ball — Christmas finished with 10 points — and cleaned up on the offensive and defensive glass.
Aside from shutting down the Orange offense after a comically slow start, UVA out-rebounded Syracuse 42-20 and scored 15 second-chance points. On top of that, Virginia scored 32 of its 59 points in the paint.
In the end, the paint was the ultimate difference in the game.
2. Quiet G
SU head coach Jim Boeheim started forward B.J. Johnson in favor of freshman point guard Kaleb Joseph, which pushed Michael Gbinije into the point guard role for most of the game.
And in that role, Gbinije was largely ineffective against Virginia’s airtight pack-line defense. The forward finished with eight points while shooting 2-for-11 from the field, as his driving lanes were closed and open outside shots few and far between.
He did have a chance to bring Syracuse within seven points as the nine-minute mark of the second half approached, but his wide-open 3 hit the front rim and the Cavaliers never looked back.
3. Tough break
Even with Virginia missing a lot of shots early on, Syracuse couldn’t find any success in transition — partly due to the rebounding margin and partly due to the Cavaliers’ commitment to getting back on defense.
The Orange scored zero fast-break points in the first half and six in the second, which forced it to battle against the Cavaliers man-to-man defense in the half court. In UVA’s only loss of the season, 69-63 to Duke on Jan. 31, the Blue Devils scored 14 fast-break points while the Cavaliers tallied none.
Playing in space and scoring in transition is the only proven formula of how to beat Virginia, and Syracuse wasn’t able to test it out.
Published on March 2, 2015 at 9:00 pm
