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The Plus/Minus: Virginia Overruns Syracuse on ACC Opening Day

Syracuse hung with Virginia for about 15 minutes. But the game is 40 minutes long and Virginia cruised to a 84-62 win at JPJ

Val Prochaska

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Overruns Syracuse on ACC Opening Day
The Plus/Minus: Virginia Overruns Syracuse on ACC Opening Day /
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Virginia opened ACC play with a dominant 84-62 win over Syracuse on Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down what we saw from the Cavaliers in their convincing victory.

Plus

A win is a win is a win. And this win was about as easy as they come. With the W, Coach Tony Bennett is now a perfect 15-0 in ACC openers and Virginia now has a winning 36-35 in ACC openers overall. A fifteen game winning streak? And just now breaking .500? Home openers used to not be so automatic. Just another data point in how brilliant Bennett has been at Virginia.

Plus

Isaac McKneely set his career high. In the first half. McKneely shot 8/11 from the floor and flashed his entire arsenal. He was 6/8 from deep. (The term “logo 3” is used far too often, but McKneely’s feet were on the saber for his final points of the first half.) He had a step-back three and a side-step three. He had a pair of difficult mid-range turnarounds and he gave Virginia their first lead of the game going right at 7’4” Naheem McLeod at the rim. The highlights are below, but you’ll also want to catch his assist to Leon Bond III which gave Virginia a 62-35 lead. 

Plus

Reece Beekman was playing gingerly today. Every time Syracuse’s Judah Mintz came off, so did Beekman. With every trip to the sideline, Beekman immediately huddled with a trainer. He was still wearing a sleeve on his knee. And yet, Beekman playing “gingerly” yielded the following stat line: 13 points on 5/7 shooting, 8 assists to go with zero turnovers, a block and a steal. Judah Mintz, fresh off a 35-point outing, was held to five points (including a desperation airball.) That’s two games in a row now that a high-scoring, high volume guard has run into the defensive buzzsaw that is Reece Beekman. Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor and now Mintz. Beekman is collecting pelts so far.

Plus

McKneely again. Isaac is now 19 for 35 from deep over the six games he’s played. That’s 54%. That’s the best in the country.

Minus

For the first time since I have been watching basketball – and I am 59 years old – Jim Boeheim was not on the Syracuse sideline. I grew up in Northern Virginia when the Big East was in its pomp and I have seen a lot of Syracuse basketball. It was strange seeing someone new patrolling the sidelines, even if it was Syracuse lifer Adrian Autry. Almost as strange was seeing Syracuse play man-man…

Plus

The team as a whole shot the three-ball well – 12 for 21 – shaking off a couple of poor outings now. This team can be feast or famine when it comes to the deep ball, and obviously, it’s easier to win when the shots are falling. One thing I noticed was that the team had more kick outs for the threes. (I lost count at eight.) Inside-out threes are the most efficient catch and shoot threes.

Plus

Before the game, Ryan Dunn was in the top 10 both in blocks and steals. The last person to finish in the top in both categories? Well, umm, it’s never been done before. There’s been a lot of great defense played under Bennett in his years at Virginia, but Dunn could be the best defender ever. And considering that Reece Beekman is his teammate, that’s saying something.

Related: Ryan Dunn Could Be a Generational Defender

Defense is all about effort, and when you're diving like this, good things happen.

Minus

There is a reason that it is easier for point guards to impact play as a freshman than it is for a center. Strength matters. And Blake Buchanan isn’t there yet. He’s going to be a great player, but he’s got to get a lot stronger. He had the ball knocked out of his hands nine times today.

Plus

Elijah Gertrude has lost his redshirt because of injury concerns with Dante Harris out and Beekman slowed down. Tony Bennett has stressed that the staff was considering burning Gertrude’s redshirt independent of the injury situation, and just over two games, it’s been easy to see why. Gertrude had his first collegiate bucket and when Beekman was sitting, Gertrude was running the point.

Plus

Virginia was up 75-44 when Bennett put in his second team and Syracuse started pressing. Despite some sloppy ball-handling and Syracuse actually showing some life, the second team still secured a 20+ point victory. In some respects, Tristan How had the prettiest shot of the night.

Next Up: Virginia returns to the out-of-conference slate with a game against North Carolina Central University on Tuesday, December 5th. Tip off is 7:00pm and the game is on ACC Network Extra.

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Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for seven years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.

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