No. 10 Hokies serve Syracuse men second ACC loss
No. 10 Hokies serve Syracuse men second ACC loss
No. 10 Virginia Tech handed the Syracuse Men’s Basketball team its second loss in ACC play, 78-56. The Orange could not get going offensively against the stout Hokies defense, which ultimately led to Syracuse’s downfall.
Early on, it looked like this game would be a defensive battle. Both teams were scoreless for the first two minutes of the half. Virginia Tech started waking up offensively with help from several shot clock violations. Turning the ball over was a major issue for Syracuse, as they had turned the ball over 11 times in the first half alone.
Virginia Tech’s Justin Robinson was a big scoring threat early in this game. He contributed 24 points to the Hokies’ 43-24 lead to end the first half.
The Orange came out of the half looking re-energized, starting the second half with an 8-0 run. The brief resurgence was led by Oshae Brissett, who started aggressively driving to the basket to provide a much-needed spark.
Syracuse quickly cut the Hokies’ lead down to eight after trailing by 17 at the start of the half. Virginia Tech did not stay quiet for too long. Robinson continued to not only create opportunities for his teammates, but also lead his team in scoring with a career-high 35 points.
The Orange could not seem to guard Robinson in this game. He finished with nine three-pointers — the most in a single game by a Hokie — and broke the record for most assists in Virginia Tech history.
Brissett was one of the only bright spots in this tough road loss. Brissett finished with a team-high 16 points.
“I thought Oshae showed some good things and got to the basket better,” Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim said.
Before this brutal loss, it looked like Syracuse had finally found their offensive groove. Against Miami, the Orange made 49 percent of their shots from behind the arc. In this performance against the Hokies, the script was flipped and Syracuse only made 32 percent of their three-point shots.
Boeheim believes that his team’s “offensive struggles bled into their defense.” The Orange defense allowed Robinson to drop 35 points. Boeheim pointed out that Syracuse’s “defense very seldom has allowed anybody to do that.”
The next game on this road stretch is against Boston College on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Last season, Syracuse lost to the Eagles in Boston by 15 points.