Virginia Basketball Defeats Syracuse 73-66 | Live Updates

Score updates and live analysis for the Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball game vs. the Syracuse Orange on Saturday

The Virginia Cavaliers (11-3, 3-2 ACC) defeated the Syracuse Orange (10-6, 3-2 ACC) 73-66 on Saturday evening at John Paul Jones Arena. See full play-by-play and live analysis for the game below. Most recent updates are at the top of the page. 

Read a full recap of the game here: Virginia Holds Off Syracuse 73-66, Bennett Becomes UVA's Winningest Coach

Final Score: Syracuse 66, Virginia 73

Beekman is tripped in the back court and makes both free throws again. Chris Bell keeps the game going with a three-pointer to make it a seven-point game with 37 seconds left. Virginia breaks the press and kills some clock before Armaan Franklin gets fouled. Franklin misses both free throws and the door remains slightly open for Syracuse. Girard drives on Beekman and tries to throw up a floater but Shedrick rejects the shot out of bounds. Virginia comes up with a stop and finally seals the 73-66 win. 

Syracuse 66, Virginia 73 | Final

Virginia breaks the Syracuse press and Reece Beekman hits another clutch jumper from the free-throw line. UVA gets a stop and then the Cavaliers push the ball in transition as Beekman feeds ahead to Shedrick for an easy layup. Judah Mintz keeps the Orange alive as he scores off the glass plus a foul on Clark. Mintz completes the three-point play to bring the Orange back within nine. UVA breaks the press and Reece Beekman is fouled. He misses the first, but makes the second. Mintz misses his jumper but Edwards is there for the putback, making it an eight-point game. Syracuse fouls Beekman again with just under a minute to play. Beekman swishes both free throws to push the lead back to ten. Girard somehow draws a foul by running into his own screener and makes both free throws. 

Syracuse 63, Virginia 71 | 45.5 2H

Franklin draws a foul, but misses the front end of the one-and-one. Shedrick tries to fight for the rebound, but fouls Hima in the process, Shedrick's fourth foul. Hima also misses the front end of the one-and-one and Virginia's lead stays at 11. Franklin is fouled again and this time, he makes both free throws. Syracuse breaks down the UVA defense and Jesse Edwards makes the extra interior pass to Maliq Brown, who finishes the play with a dunk. Virginia's field goal drought finally comes to an end as Reece Beekman knocks down a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down. Syracuse answers as Joe Girard hits a three from the corner. Franklin turns the ball over in the back court due to the Syracuse press and Girard hits another three-pointer, and the Orange trail by just eight with 2:12 to go. 

Syracuse 56, Virginia 64 | 2:12 2H

Coming out of the timeout, Joe Girard hits a catch-and-shoot three-pointer from the right wing and Syracuse is now on a 10-0 run to cut Virginia's lead back down to 12 points. UVA once led by as many as 23 in this game. Chris Bell pump fakes and hits a mid-range jumper and the Orange are suddenly back with ten points. Syracuse grabs multiple offensive rebounds and Maliq Brown eventually draws a foul and makes 1/2. The Cavaliers come up empty on the offensive end again and have gone nearly eight minutes without making a shot. Kadin Shedrick grabs a defensive rebound and gets fouled, sending him to the free throw line as Virginia is in the bonus. Shedrick makes both free throws to push the UVA lead back to 11. Joe Girard gets free for a three-pointer and drills it, but Mounir Hima is called for an offensive foul on the screen that freed Girard for the shot, wiping away the three-pointer. 

Syracuse 48, Virginia 59 | 3:55 2H

Reece Beekman sends a pass to the corner to Isaac McKneely, who splashes the catch-and-shoot triple for his fourth three-pointer of the game. Symir Torrence feeds to Judah Mintz, who hits a mid-range jumper. Franklin is hit on the arm on a drive with no call, resulting in a turnover, and Syracuse cashes in on the other end as Mintz hits a floater plus a foul on Beekman. Mintz misses the ensuing free throw. Virginia comes up empty on another possession and Syracuse scores again as Torrence finds Mintz in the corner for a catch-and-shoot three-pointer. Virginia hasn't scored in nearly four minutes and Syracuse has narrowed the deficit back to 15 points with under eight minutes to play. 

Syracuse 42, Virginia 57 | 7:56 2H

Justin Taylor is fouled by McKneely and goes 1/2 from the free throw line. UVA works the ball inside for Clark, who sends a quick bounce pass down to Shedrick, who finishes at the rim. Syracuse answers on the other end as Joe Girard hits an off-balance three-pointer. 

Syracuse 35, Virginia 54 | 11:53 2H

Maliq Brown draws a foul and misses the first, but makes the second free throw. Virginia uses some nice ball movement to pick apart the Syracuse zone and Clark kicks out to Ben Vander Plas, who sinks his second three-pointer of the second half. Judah Mintz drives on Beekman and hits a heavily-contested runner off the glass. Edwards whips a pass to the corner to Justin Taylor, who pump fakes to send Clark flying past and then steps inside for a mid-range jumper. Kihei Clark answers on the other end by hitting a free throw line jumper and Tony Bennett quickly calls timeout to regroup his defense. 

Syracuse 31, Virginia 52 | 13:26 2H

Kadin Shedrick picks up his third foul early in the second half and is quickly replaced by Ben Vander Plas. Franklin intercepts Girard's pass and takes it the other way, getting fouled by Chris Bell at the basket. Franklin makes both free throws and Virginia leads by 16. Clark forces an air-ball jumper by Girard and then Virginia scores again on the other end, as Clark feeds to Gardner, who scores off the glass plus a foul on Bell. Gardner misses the ensuing free throw but the Cavaliers have their largest lead of the game at 18 points. Beekman kicks out to Ben Vander Plas, who knocks down a three-pointer from the top of the key, Virginia's ninth three of the game. 

Syracuse 26, Virginia 47 | 15:35 2H

With the shot clock winding down, Armaan Franklin hoists up a desperation three-pointer with a hand in his face and splashes it, his fourth three-pointer of the game. After a Syracuse turnover, Virginia grabs multiple offensive rebounds and eventually Clark gets inside the Syracuse zone and sends a bounce pass to Kadin Shedrick, who finishes the play with a dunk. Virginia opens the half on a 5-0 run to buff the lead back to 14 points and Jim Boeheim calls a quick timeout, leaving Syracuse with just one timeout for the remaining 18 minutes of regulation.

Syracuse 26, Virginia 40 | 18:04 2H

Justin Taylor attempts a heavily-contested mid-range jumper and gets a friendly roll to get Syracuse to 20 points. UVA comes up empty on a couple of consecutive possessions and then Syracuse grabs multiple offensive rebounds on one trip and Maliq Brown is eventually fouled, making both free throws. Virginia had a chance to hold for the last shot of the half, but instead the Cavaliers decide to press the issue and Franklin has his layup attempt blocked. That leads to a basket for Syracuse as Judah Mintz scores a driving layup. Beekman turns the ball over and then Clark fouls Mintz in transition with 0.7 seconds left and Mintz makes both free throws. What a disastrous ending to a half that Virginia largely dominated. UVA goes the last 3:42 of the half without scoring and Syracuse goes on an 8-0 run to trim Virginia's lead down to single digits at halftime. 

Syracuse 26, Virginia 35 | Halftime

Francisco Caffaro checks into the game to handle Jesse Edwards on the defensive end. Caffaro missed UVA's last game with a foot injury. Charlottesville native Justin Taylor elevates and knocks down a jumper from just inside the three-point line. Kihei Clark is fouled on a short-jumper by Maliq Brown and goes 1/2 at the free throw line. After playing some good defense on Edwards in the post, Caffaro tries to pay himself on the offensive end but misses his dunk attempt. UVA maintains possession and eventually works the ball down low for Gardner, who is fouled and makes both free throws. Clark swipes the ball away from Quadir Copeland and the ball comes to Franklin, who throws the ball up ahead back to Clark who finishes the fast-break layup through some contact. Virginia gets another stop and then Clark feeds a pass to Gardner, who scores easily off the glass. That's another 7-0 run for the Cavaliers, who now lead 35-18. Jim Boeheim calls a second timeout as JPJ erupts. 

Syracuse 18, Virginia 35 | 3:40 1H

Kadin Shedrick is whistled for an offensive foul, his second personal, and is pulled out of the game, presumably for the remaining ten minutes of the first half. It will be interesting to see how UVA deals with the 6'11" Jesse Edwards without Shedrick. For now, that assignment goes to Ben Vander Plas. Joe Girard splashes a three-pointer but Isaac McKneely answers back with a three-pointer of his own on the other end. Reece Beekman comes up with a steal, sparking a fast-break that ends with Beekman passing to Gardner for a transition layup. Girard backs down Clark and hits a fadeaway jumper on the baseline. Kihei Clark chases down a long defensive rebound, takes a couple of dribbles and then quickly fires a pass up to Isaac McKneely, who sinks the transition three-pointer from the left wing. Virginia's seventh three-pointer of the first half pushes the lead back up to 12 and Jim Boeheim calls timeout. 

Syracuse 16, Virginia 28 | 6:08 1H

Armaan Franklin gets a good look from three but passes it up to make the extra pass to an even more wide open Reece Beekman, who sinks Virginia's fourth three-pointer of the game. Virginia gets another stop and then Isaac McKneely pulls the trigger on a quick three-pointer and drains it from the right wing. McKneely comes up with a steal on the other end and Beekman finds Shedrick, who is fouled as he attempted a dunk. Shedrick makes 1/2 at the line and it's a 7-0 run for Virginia, who has opened up a 20-9 lead. Franklin's three-pointer rims out and Syracuse's scoring drought of more than three minutes finally comes to an end as Maliq Brown drives to the rack for a layup. 

Syracuse 11, Virginia 20 | 10:38 1H

Kihei Clark steals the ball from Joe Girard on the first possession of the game and draws a foul on the other end. Virginia capitalizes on the takeaway as Armaan Franklin splashes a three-pointer from the left wing to get the scoring started. Syracuse turns it over and then Reece Beekman finds Jayden Gardner open down low for his patented baseline jumper. Jesse Edwards works on Kadin Shedrick in the low block and is able to flip in a shot off the glass with his left hand to get the Orange on the board. Franklin buries his second-three pointer of the game, this time from the left corner. UVA gets another stop thanks to a nice block from Kadin Shedrick and then Armaan Franklin sinks yet another three-pointer to put UVA up 11-2. Syracuse answers as Chris Bell knocks down a three from the left wing. Gardner's layup is long off the rim but Shedrick is there for the putback as Virginia continues to operate at a high level on the offensive end. The Cavaliers have made five of their first six shots. Judah Mintz stops on a dime and elevates for a mid-range jumper from the left elbow. Virginia comes up empty on back-to-back possessions and Syracuse takes advantage, picking apart the UVA defense leading to a dunk for Maliq Brown. Virginia turns the ball over again to take us to the under 16. The Cavaliers lead by four, but haven't scored in over two minutes. 

Syracuse 9, Virginia 13 | 14:42 1H