Virginia Holds Off Boeheim Brothers, Wins at Syracuse 74-69

The Cavaliers shot 63% from the floor in the second half and escaped the Carrier Dome with a crucial victory on New Year's Day

All season long, Virginia has been plagued by scoring droughts and a general inability to make baskets at critical moments.

In a tough road environment at the Carrier Dome on Saturday night, the Cavaliers made several plays at crucial times to fight off the relentless Syracuse Orange and pick up a huge 74-69 victory.

Virginia scored the first seven points of the game and, behind 10 first-half points by Armaan Franklin, UVA led by as many as 12 points. Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim, sons of Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, combined to score 45 points and got the Orange back in the game. Buddy Boeheim had 27 points, including five three-pointers, and Jimmy Boeheim recorded 18 points and nine rebounds.

Jesse Edwards made a heavily contested jumper in the paint as time expired in the first half to tie the game at 33 heading into halftime.

In the second half, Syracuse’s aggressiveness on the offensive glass began to pay off. The Orange collected 18 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second chance points. Many of those points came from the free throw line, as the Orange went to the charity stripe 23 times in the game and converted 15 of them. Virginia shot only 10 free throws and made seven.

A Syracuse 7-0 run, capped off by an emphatic dunk by Jimmy Boeheim, gave the Orange the lead at 47-45 with 13:28 left in regulation. Trying to leave their offensive woes behind heading into 2022, the Cavaliers responded with a 7-0 run, which included two baskets by Kadin Shedrick, who finished with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Virginia’s offense, which has gone through dormant stretches in several games this season, was actually quite effective against Syracuse’s zone defense throughout the game. UVA was able to get the ball inside to Jayden Gardner and Reece Beekman, who generated scoring opportunities by passing out to open teammates as the Orange defense collapsed on them.

Buddy Boeheim found Jimmy Boeheim on a back-door cut for a layup to tie the game at 52-52 with a little over nine minutes remaining. Sparked by a Kihei Clark three-pointer on the next possession, Virginia responded once again with a crucial 9-0 run over the next three minutes. Clark was fantastic down the stretch for the Hoos, scoring 14 points in the second half. The senior point guard finished with 17 points, eight assists, four rebounds, a block, and a steal.

Baskets by Clark and Gardner, who finished with 15 points, four rebounds, and four assists, helped the Hoos retain their lead, but the Orange refused to quit. Yet another three-pointer from Buddy Boeheim made it 72-69 with 1:19 left. Gardner left a mid-range jumper short on the next possession and Syracuse got the ball back with a chance to tie the game. Cole Swider’s game-tying three-point attempt was off the mark and Kihei Clark was fouled after securing the rebound. Clark made both free throws to essentially seal the game and Virginia went on to win 74-69.

The importance of UVA’s offensive production in this game cannot be overstated, as the Cavaliers operated with poise even as Syracuse threatened to stage the comeback down the stretch. UVA was able to penetrate the Syracuse zone and score 40 points in the paint to Syracuse’s 24. The Cavaliers shot 63.0% from the floor in the second half as compared to 37.1% for Syracuse. With a balanced scoring attack featuring four different Cavaliers in double figures, Virginia executed at an impressively high level, especially compared to some of UVA’s offensive performances earlier this season.

Up next, the Cavaliers (8-5, 2-1 ACC) will see if they can keep the momentum of this New Year’s Day victory rolling as they take another crack at Clemson, who just defeated Virginia 67-50 on December 22nd. The Hoos will take on the Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday night at 9pm. 

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