Syracuse fans ended a disappointing football season to move on to the next sport, with hopes that basketball would show signs of life in the Dome. However, the offense that has been run by Dino Babers’ squad on the gridiron rubbed off on Jim Boeheim’s team on the hardwood.
When Carmelo Anthony was announced sitting courtside in the first half, 22,000 people erupted in unison. At that point in the game, Syracuse was within striking distance and kept the Orange faithful believing that perhaps an upset of the reigning national champs would be the start of something as special as Anthony’s freshman season. With a national audience tuned in, Syracuse only mustered 34 points against Virginia in a 48-34 season-opening loss.
The ‘Hoos came into the night ranked 11th in the nation and sported a defense that, under Tony Bennett, has suffocated many offenses that have tried to break it. Virginia runs a traditional man-to-man defense, but on Wednesday night, it looked like a lock-down zone, with all five players in blue working together to keep the Orange from reaching the tin for easy buckets.
While ‘Cuse only had 34 points, Virginia’s offense wasn’t what it was last year. In the matchup between the Orange and the Cavaliers just over eight months ago, Virginia easily won 79-53 with the lockdown defense anchoring the 18 triples they knocked down. On Wednesday, they could only score 48 points. This was a testament to Syracuse’s defense, but without the offensive support on the other end of the Dome, Virginia didn’t have to do much offensively to come away with a win.
The Orange shot an abysmal 24% from the field, but no spot on the court was worse than 22-feet away from the rim. Syracuse was 5-29 from beyond the arc, unable to penetrate the Virginia defense which caused them to shoot contested and off-balanced jumpers.
Jim Boeheim was concise in what separated Syracuse and Virginia on Wednesday night. “Defensively, they’re really good,” he said. “You’re playing the best defensive team that we’ll play until we play them again.” He stated that Virginia’s defense might be better than last year’s team, but overall, they are not the same team because of their lack of scorers.
He stressed the importance of creating mismatches through screens and off-ball action. “When we play them, we have to move better, which we didn’t do tonight.”
Elijah Hughes had half of the Syracuse points late in the second half, before the team scored another three baskets in the final five minutes of the game. Hughes led the Orange with 14 points including 3 three-pointers. He was 4-14 from the field and 3-10 from deep.
Mamadi Diakite was as-advertised for the ‘Hoos, cashing in 12 points coupled with six rebounds.
Syracuse has a week to regroup before facing in-state foe, Colgate, next Wednesday night at 7.