No. 9 Virginia falls to Syracuse, 66-62

Virginia dropped its third ACC game of the season, falling 66-62 at Syracuse on Saturday afternoon. The Orange win gave Jim Boeheim his 1,000th career coaching win.

The Hoos had a strong first half, heading into the locker room with a 34-22 lead.

But for anyone who watched last March’s matchup between Syracuse and Virginia, the Cavaliers’ 12-point lead at the half felt anything but safe. A seven-minute Virginia scoring drought to open up the second half confirmed all the Wahoos’ fears, as the Orange came out with a 19-2 run to take their first lead of the afternoon.

Virginia came out with complete offensive lackluster in the second half. Jack Salt struggled all day under the basket to convert anything into points. London Perrantes perhaps tried a little too hard to create an opening in the zone defense with dribble penetration.

The Hoos, who came into day ranked second in the country with just 9.6 turnovers a game, committed a whopping 15 of them. Virginia only found its way to the charity stripe five times on the afternoon, compared to Syracuse’s 20 free throw attempts.

Syracuse shot 54.8% from the floor on the afternoon, including 73.7% in the second half. Kyle Guy led the offense for the Hoos with 14 points, including going 3-3 on his first three shots beyond the arc (he finished 4-6 from three). Perrantes put up 11 points, while Wilkins had 9. Meanwhile, two Syracuse players -- Andrew White and Tyus Battle -- each put up 23 points.

“This might have been one of our best wins, ever,” Boeheim said after the game.

This serves as zero consolation for Virginia fans.