Revisiting UVa's win over Syracuse

No. 12 Virginia 75, No. 4 Syracuse 56

Now that everyone has taken a breath after Virginia's huge win over Syracuse, which clinched the regular-season ACC title and No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament for the Cavaliers, let's take a look back at some points I made before the game and see how each team fared in trying to gain the upper hand.

One of the huge keys to the game is going to be stopping or slowing Fair. Early on, this was advantage Syracuse. Fair had eight first-half points, right on pace for around his average of between 16 and 17 ppg. It seemed like Virginia's defense was playing well, and then either Fair or Ennis would throw up a shot at the end of the shot clock and somehow make it. However, in the second half, Fair managed just five points. For the game, Fair hit just 4 of 13 field goals and missed all five of his 3-point tries.

Another key will be 3s. This was also advantage Syracuse in the first half. Neither team could hit anything early, but in the second half of the first half, the Orange hit three 3s -- one each from Ennis, Trevor Cooney, and Michael Gbinije. UVa didn't hit a 3 until 50 seconds left in the first half when Justin Anderson hit one. That seemed to knock the cap off the rim for the 'Hoos. Virginia hit 7 of 11 3s in the second half. Syracuse made two, both from Cooney in the span of a minute. The Cavaliers got two from Anderson (ended up with 11 big points), two from

UVa students and fans rush the court after beating Syracuse.
It was the Wahoos' first outright ACC regular-season title since 1981.

Perrantes (one from a good three to five feet beyond the arc that made it 49-42, starting UVa's decisive run), one from Malcolm Brogdon (who ended up with a career-high 19 points and made all eight of his free throws), one from Joe Harris, and even one from walk-on Thomas Rogers, who actually earned a scholarship this season. For him to come in and hit a 3 was magical for himself and for the fans. That got perhaps the loudest cheer of the game.

I said that if the Orange didn't hit as many 3s or more than Virginia, they would need to clean the glass. I don't remember the Orange being very successful rebounding. Virginia scored a lot of points in the first half off offensive rebounds and UVa ended up with a 39-29 rebounding advantage. Akil Mitchell was a significant part of UVa sticking with the Orange in the first half. The senior came out fired up on senior day and ended the contest with 12 points and nine boards. One thing that probably hurt Syracuse is Jerami Grant reinjured his back and he is one of the Orange's top rebounders. He only played 13 minutes and had no points and just one rebound.

Perrantes vs. Ennis. Ennis won this battle in the first half, scoring nine points to Perrantes' zero. I don't think Perrantes took a shot. UVa held Ennis to just four points in the second half and he ended up 4 of 11 from the floor with four assists, two turnovers, and three rebounds. Perrantes hit two big 3-pointers in the second half and finished with seven assists, two turnovers, and four rebounds.

Syracuse's zone. It held up nicely in the first half for the Orange but the second half was a different story when the Wahoos put up 48 points and hit seven 3-pointers. Virginia looked stagnant in the first half against the zone and did not shoot well. The second half was a different story, as the 'Hoos got hot and got good movement at the top of the paint. Brogdon, Mike Tobey, and, to a lesser extent, Anthony Gill all had good success from that area of the floor. Once the shots started falling, holes opened up in the zone and Virginia went on its run.

The reffing seemed fair to me. There were some ticky-tack fouls in the first half on Syracuse and then in the second half on Virginia. For the most part, though, I thought the game had good flow and there weren't too many fouls called. The game was allowed to be physical.

In the end, Syracuse didn't accomplish any of the three things I thought they needed to to win. Fair was below 16 points. The Orange hit jut five 3s compared to UVa's eight. And UVa outrebounded the Orange. The first of these two points Syracuse looked good on in the first half and it did have a 28-27 lead. Ultimately though, the Cavaliers prevailed on all of three of these. Had Syracuse won two of these, I think they might have won.

Now, Virginia must refocus. There is still one game left before the ACC tournament and it is against Maryland on the road Sunday. The game doesn't mean much in terms of the ACC since Virginia won it. It doesn't mean much in terms of getting in the NCAA tournament. UVa is in no matter what and Maryland probably needs to win out and the ACC tournament to get in. It does mean something for pride, though, because it is the Terrapins' final game in the ACC. Virginia has won six straight games against its rival and hopefully the Cavs can make it seven.

I was a little concerned with how Virginia celebrated the win Saturday. Cutting down the nets could send the wrong signal and coach Tony Bennett said as much in the post game news conference. However, I think it was more for the fans who have been starved for success in the ACC for awhile, save for the 2007 first-place tie with UNC (though the Heels won the tiebreaker). This team has been heady all season and doesn't seem easily distracted. I think the players know there is more this team is capable of accomplishing. Still, one of the reasons I am glad that there is a week layoff is that now the guys can celebrate a little -- that is probably over now -- and then can dial back in, look to send Maryland packing to the Big Ten with a loss, and then hone in on making the team even better for the ACC and NCAA tournaments.