LISTEN: @Cuse_MBB opened its ACC slate on the road against @UVAMensHoops and got embarrassed, 84-62. @IanNicholasTV and @francescosim16 had the call from the Old Dominion. pic.twitter.com/3nZEJlP7FS
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) December 2, 2023
In its first conference matchup of the season, Virginia (7-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot over 55% from beyond the three-point line in its 84-62 victory over Syracuse (5-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Eight of the Cavaliers’ 12 three-pointers came in the second half alone.
Five different UVA players connected from 3-point land, but none at a higher volume than guard Isaac McKneely. The sophomore went 6-8 from deep en route to a career-high 22 points. McKneely’s efforts helped propel the 'Hoos to a 21-3 scoring run in the second half.
“We just started screening better, cutting harder, and just getting better shots. We were getting stops. I think we put it all together,” McKneely said of Virginia's dominance in the second half. “When we put making shots and getting stops together, I think we’re hard to beat.”
As the game trudged on, those aforementioned stops put SU in more and more of a stranglehold. For the game’s first 13 minutes, the lead changed hands nine times. In the next 17 minutes of game time, the ‘Cuse was outscored 41-21.
Only four Orange players made more than a third of their shots. Syracuse’s leading scorer Judah Mintz, who came into the day averaging more than 20 points a contest, was held to five points on 2-8 shooting. The sophomore had no three-pointers for just the second time this season.
According to Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett, slowing down Mintz was all part of the plan.
“It’s not Reece (Beekman) or whoever is matched up on Judah, it’s us versus him,” Bennett said after the game. “He’s so good at drawing fouls and making moves… we said ‘own the lane, jam the lane’.”
The 22-point loss is the largest margin of defeat for the Orange this season. In all three of its losses, the ‘Cuse has been held to fewer than 65 points. But Syracuse has come back from big losses before. Head coach Adrian Autry says the best way to bounce back is to put this game in the past.
“Once the game is over with and you handle your media duties, you got to, obviously, put it behind you,” said Autry. “It’s the early part of the season, we’ve got a lot of games left, we’ve got to put this game behind us and get ready for our next opponent.”
That next opponent is Cornell (7-1, 0-0 Ivy League), a team that Syracuse has beaten 42 straight times dating back to the 60s. The battle of upstate New York gets going at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, December 5th. WAER’s coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff.