Before an emotional Senior Day, coach Tony Bennett gave his seniors a simple message: “Just stay focused.”
“Your parents can enjoy this… but we have a task at hand,” Bennett said. “I kind of joked and said when the season is over we’ll get a DJ and have a party at my pool — we’ll celebrate that way. I thought they did a great job of being locked in, which is easier said than done.”
In what was billed as the biggest Virginia men’s basketball game since Ralph Sampson’s days at University Hall — the game was sold out since November and many students camped out overnight to get prime seats — the No. 12 Cavaliers (25-5, 16-1 ACC) used a 20-5 second-half run to squeeze the No. 4 Orange (26-3, 13-3 ACC), 75-56.
The Cavaliers won their 13th consecutive game to clinch their sixth outright regular season ACC title — their first since the 1980-1981 season — and secure the top seed in the ACC Tournament. It was an accomplishment that senior guard Joe Harris did not take lightly.
“I can’t even describe this feeling right now,” Harris said. “One of the main reasons I came here, and I know that [senior forward] Akil [Mitchell] came here, was to be the foundation for coach Bennett’s program and turning this thing around back to what it used to be. For us to go out this way with an ACC crown is unreal.”
Syracuse opened the game on an 8-3 run, but the Cavaliers battled back, taking a 10-8 advantage when sophomore forward Anthony Gill slammed home a Harris miss. They would stretch the lead to 22-15 after sophomore center Mike Tobey put back a miss from sophomore guard Malcolm Brogdon.
Mitchell, who led Virginia at halftime with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and seven rebounds, knocked down a jumper with 4:40 to play in the half. The Orange then sank consecutive 3-pointers, and junior forward Rakeem Christmas capped an 8-0 Syracuse run with a wide-open alley-oop from freshman point guard Tyler Ennis.
Sophomore guard Justin Anderson broke the Syracuse run when he hit the team’s first 3-pointer of the game with 50 seconds left before halftime. The shot cut the Orange lead to 28-27 and provided a spark going into the break.
“With their zone and the way that they play, once you touch the middle of the paint, the perimeter will get open shots,” Anderson said. “I had a down part of the season where I wasn’t hitting those shots, but I’ve been putting up a lot of extra shots in practice and it paid off tonight. Coach told me to get ready and keep my hands ready to shoot.”
Syracuse sophomore forward Jeremi Grant did not return after halftime due to back soreness. Grant played 13 minutes in the first half, shooting 0-of-3 and grabbing one rebound. Grant has started 15 of 16 ACC games for the Orange, averaging 11.0 points and 7.3 rebounds during conference play.
Following a two-point first half, Brogdon came alive in the second half, scoring 17 points and converting all eight of his free throw attempts. At the 18:42 mark, Brogdon pulled down a rebound and was fouled in transition by Ennis — Ennis’ third of the game.
The teams continued to trade blows, with two Fair free throws tying the game at 42-42 with 11:20 left to play. Brogdon sank a pair of free throws to break the tie, and then Harris found Brogdon at the free throw line on the ensuing possession. Brogdon buried the turnaround jumper, scoring the first four points of what would become a 20-5 game-deciding run.
“I wanted to help last year [during the Duke win] and I wanted to be a part of it,” Brogdon said. “It’s great to be a part of it this year and being a part of an amazing season.”
Gill drew a charge call against Ennis with 9:10 left in the game, sending the freshman to the bench with the Orange down 46-42. Despite being limited by foul trouble, the point guard — who was so “crafty” according to Anderson that he had to change from his LeBrons to a lighter shoe while guarding him — finished with 13 points, four assists and three rebounds.
“[Gill] was the X-factor for sure, taking two set charges on [Ennis],” Anderson said. “That changed the game. We felt like if we could take Ennis out of the game and make him be more hesitant, then we would have a great chance of winning.”
After shooting just 1-of-5 from long-range in the first half, Virginia combined to shoot 7-of-11 from beyond the arc after the break, with Anderson and Perrantes each draining both of their 3-point attempts in the second half. Conversely, Syracuse followed up a 3-of-9 first-half performance from downtown with a 2-of-13 second half.
Anderson assisted on a deep Perrantes 3-pointer with 8:46 to play to take a 49-42 lead, with Perrantes returning the favor a minute later. When Perrantes found Harris — one of his game-high seven assists — for a deep 3-pointer to extend the Virginia lead to 60-47 with 4:45 left, the senior brought the house down.
“Last time I heard [John Paul Jones Arena] that loud I was at the Taylor Swift concert,” Bennett said. “I remember I sat there and there were 14,000 teenage girls screaming and I was like, ‘I wonder if we can get it like this for a game.’ And I’m telling you something, it either rivaled or surpassed it — sorry Taylor.”
Virginia also capitalized on its 13 offensive rebounds, scoring 21 second-chance points to Syracuse’s 10. Mitchell and Tobey dominated the post with five offensive rebounds apiece, as the Cavaliers outscored the Orange 34-24 in the paint.
“Going into this game, coach [Bennett] told me to be aggressive, especially at the top of the key,” Tobey said. “For teams that play zone, that’s the soft spot in their defense. I haven’t been playing up to the level I know I can play, so I came into this game with an aggressive mentality.”
Brogdon led the Cavaliers with a career-best 19 points, while Mitchell recorded 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds in his final home game. Tobey and Anderson contributed 11 points each, and Tobey also pulled down eight boards.
Harris finished his illustrious career at John Paul Jones Arena with seven points, four assists, three rebounds and one steal.
Ennis and Fair led the Orange in scoring with 13 points each, while Christmas snagged a team-high seven rebounds.
With 39 seconds remaining, senior guard Thomas Rogers entered the game. Just seven seconds later, Rogers sank a 3-pointer to end his career as a three-year walk-on who earned a scholarship for his senior season.
“When I cut down the net I told [Rogers], ‘Thomas, the best memory that I’m going to have of this net is that you were the last person to splash a shot through it,” Anderson said. “That was big-time for him.”
Virginia will conclude the regular season March 9 against Maryland in College Park, Md. The game will be the final ACC matchup between the two longtime rivals. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.
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