Highlights & Recap: Syracuse Tops Virginia Tech

The Orange picked up a convincing home win.

On Wednesday night, Otto's Army showed out for an ACC men's basketball matchup between the Syracuse Orange and the Virginia Tech Hokies. Nearly 17,000 were in attendance as the Orange looked to make some noise in the ACC before March with an 82-72 victory.

It was a tale of two halves in this matchup. The Hokies put up a battle in the first half. Virginia Tech was led by four players, including three starters, all with eight points. The point distribution was insufficient to keep up with the Orange as Virginia Tech trailed by six at halftime.

Getting it done in the first half for the Orange, as usual, Jesse Edwards and Joe Girard, who each had nine first-half points. Edwards also added four first-half assists. Syracuse received excellent contributions off the bench from freshmen Justin Taylor and Malik Brown.

Taylor had a confident-looking shooting stroke going 2-3 from three. Malik Brown contributed with 5 points and five rebounds. Brown finished the game with an impressive 12 points and 12 rebounds. Brown spoke after the game on what it means to him to be able to provide that spark of the bench and use it as extra motivation.

“Just coming off the bench, seeing my teammates play already for like the first however many minutes it is.” Brown said, “ Whenever I get in the game, just being ready, staying focused and giving a spark.”

Playing Nearly 34 minutes off the bench, Brown was also able to provide energy on the defensive end as he finished with two steals and one block. After the game, Coach Boeheim praised Brown's play throughout the game, and spoke about how Brown is more willing to get the rebounds than Williams was.

“It doesn't matter who starts, it matters who's playing, he (Brown) stays around the basket.” Boheim said. “ That's what he does and that's where the ball is and that's where he gets some rebounds. Benny (Williams) wants to play out 15 to 18 feet and there's no rebound out there. And Malik is doing what we need him to do.”

Brown was not the only member of the Orange to have an outstanding game. Jesse Edwards and JG3 also joined the party after having strong first halves. In total, Edwards finished with 13 points and a career-high six dimes. Edwards also showed up on the defensive end as usual, finishing with two blocks and a steal. JG3 put on a shooting display throughout the game going 3-7 from three and 10-20 shooting overall for a team-leading 24 points.

The Orange as a team did a nice job protecting the ball as they only committed nine turnovers compared to the Hokies 15. The Orange also enjoyed a solid effort from the bench outscoring Virginia Tech's bench 26 to 12.

Despite the victory, there was the elephant in the room after the game, which Coach Boheim had to address. Why did Benny Williams only play eight minutes on the night? On the season so far, Willaims has averaged almost 28 minutes a game. Boheim attempted to explain if Williams playing low minutes was injury related or just a basketball decision.

“He didn't play well, you earn your minutes. Somebody plays, well, they're gonna play more minutes. He’s gonna say he's a little weak,” Boheim said, “ He's focused on shooting jump shots, and he's not a good enough shooter to shoot a lot of jump shots. We need him to rebound and play defense; he’s capable of doing that.”

The victory over Virginia Tech Brings the Orange to a 11–6 record overall and 4-2 in ACC play. The next time the Orange play will be on Saturday against Notre Dame (9-8, 1-5 ACC) at the dome at 7 p.m.

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