Virginia Tech trailed for most of the game, but found a way to turn a Syracuse lead that was as large as 16 into a one-possession game in the closing minutes. However, the Hokies came up just short in the end after a Landers Nolley 3 with 4 seconds left missed with Tech losing 71-69 to Syracuse.
With the loss, Tech drops to 13-5 on the season including 4-3 in ACC play while Syracuse improves to 11-7 including 4-3 in ACC play.
Syracuse's size proved quite advantageous on the interior as the Orange were 23-36 on two-point attempts compared to 10-24 for Tech, leading to a 34-12 advantage in points in the paint. The Hokies made that up some shooting 15-37 (40.5%) from three, but their struggles defending inside the arc proved costly. However, Tech struggled defensively guarding Syracuse's size when attacking the basket which proved costly.
The Hokies did a lot of things well with 22 assists on 25 made shots with only 7 turnovers. Unfortunately for Tech, Syracuse only had 4 turnovers and held a 13-3 advantage in points off turnovers.
Tech also did well on the glass and though they were outrebounded 35-33, they had 7 offensive rebounds on the day compared to 5 for Syracuse. More impressive was the fact that they did that not only with their significant size disadvantage, but and without a single minute from their tallest regular player, 6'10'' John Ojiako.
Nahiem Alleyne had his best game in weeks with 17 points on 6-7 shooting including 5-6 from three-point range plus 4 assists and 3 rebounds. Meanwhile, Landers Nolley struggled going 5-16 from the field for 13 points with 7 assists and 6 rebounds while Jalen Cone was also in double figures with 14 points on 5-11 shooting including 4-8 from three.
Buddy Boeheim was the star for Syracuse with 26 points on 10-20 shooting including 5-13 from three including having 18 points in a row for Syracuse at one point in the first half. Elijah Hughes had 17 points for the Orange while Marek Dolezaj had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
We will have more as this story develops.
