Published May 8, 2020
Our Favorite Games: UVa's ACC-title clinching win over Syracuse
Justin Ferber  •  CavsCorner
Editor In-Chief
Twitter
@justin_ferber
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Editor's Note: In a new series that begins today, we're going to revisit some of our favorite moments over the years going to UVa games. Today, we begin with a Senior Day long past but one that will live for years and years to come.


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The Scene


March 1, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- It was Senior Day at John Paul Jones Arena, as UVa fans prepared to say farewell to Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell before the Cavaliers closed out their home slate against new conference rival Syracuse. But more importantly, the stakes were as high as they’d ever been inside JPJ with an ACC Regular Season Title on the line.

UVa had caught fire in ACC play and came into this contest with a 15-1 league record and a chance to clinch its first outright regular season title since 1980-1981. Syracuse was the other contender for the title, having started the regular season 25-0 and 12-0 in league play before dropping two of prior to the trip to Charlottesville. This was Syracuse’s first year in the ACC and the two teams were preparing for their only league meeting on the schedule. Virginia entered the early March contest on a 12-game heater, coming off of a 25-point win over Miami earlier in the week.

The anticipation built as the matchup drew closer and the Cavaliers kept winning. The crowds at JPJ were great throughout their run through ACC play, culminating with fantastic buzz and energy in and around the building on that Saturday afternoon. For me, it was my first year covering games as a media member for CavsCorner, and prior to tip-off several of us had crossed the street to watch UVa’s first open spring football practice. By the time we returned to JPJ, students were lined up down Massie Road, waiting to get in the building and claim the rally towels that were being distributed that day.

As we walked out of the tunnel to the court area for warm-ups, it was clear this game was different. There were far more fans in the building than there normally were an hour or so before tip-off and the student section was at capacity, many of them holding signs, some more creative than others. Dick Vitale was calling the game, his first in Charlottesville in a long time, something that was a much bigger deal in 2014 than it is now, especially after all of the success and attention UVa has earned over the subsequent years.

As tip-off approached and UVa rolled out a few new pregame hype videos, it was clear that the stakes and the stage gave the Hoos an opportunity that they’d rarely had in the decades since Ralph Sampson left Grounds.


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The Game


Syracuse had a good team that year and the game was back-and-forth out of the gate. The Orange opened up an 8-3 lead early but UVa responded, going on a run that was capped by a half-court alley-oop from London Perrantes to Mitchell, forcing Jim Boeheim to call timeout and scold Baye Keita as he returned to the bench. UVa spent most of the first half trying to figure out Syracuse’s 2-3 zone while keeping the Orange from going on a big run of their own. Virginia big man Mike Tobey had a nice first half, scoring 7 points, including six straight at one point in the session. After UVa opened up a 22-15 advantage Syracuse responded, eventually taking the lead before the Cavaliers jumped back in front just before halftime with a Justin Anderson 3-pointer. It was 28-27 at the break, still anyone’s game.

It was back-and-forth to start the second half, with Syracuse’s Trevor Cooney getting hot from beyond the arc. C.J. Fair’s free throws tied the game at 42-42 with 11:20 to go, in a game that seemed destined for a last second winner from one team or the other.

And then Virginia left Syracuse in the dust.

Malcolm Brogdon scored four straight and then Perrantes hit a triple from NBA range, putting UVa up seven and forcing another Syracuse timeout.

From there, the Hoos controlled the game and took the Orange apart like they had done with nearly every other opponent they had played in the weeks leading up to that game. The timeout after the Perrantes 3-pointer came with 8:40 to go. By the time the under-4 media timeout arrived, UVa was up 15 and the game was little more than a coronation. The Cavaliers finished strong, with Harris finally getting in on the action with a deep 3 after a relatively quiet game. He would soon exit to a standing ovation in his last game in Charlottesville, truly going out on a high after struggling to make the Wahoos relevant for the past four years. When all was said and done Virginia had won by 19, put four players in double-figures scoring, led by Brogdon’s 19, and brought Tony Bennett to tears as he shook hands with the Syracuse players and coaches and fans stormed the court.


The Result:

No. 4 Syracuse 56

No. 12 UVa 75


The Lasting Memory


From the game itself, there was one moment that certainly felt the most surreal in the moment. UVa got some of the walk-ons into the game late and in his final game at JPJ Thomas Rodgers buried a deep 3 to put Virginia up 19 points, sending JPJ—including the Virginia bench—into a frenzy. That was a moment where it felt like everything was going right for Virginia and there was nothing Syracuse could do about it.

The second came after the game, watching Bennett and his players cut down the nets on the court, surrounded by the fans that had stormed the floor at the buzzer. It was something that I had never even considered happening in Charlottesville, much less just months after UVa was dismantled on the road at Tennessee and limped into ACC play with a 9-4 record.

I picked this game because I truly felt like this one, coupled with Virginia’s win over Duke in the ACC Tournament title game a few weeks later, were the turning point for UVa basketball, where the program went from one that could potentially be competitive in an unwinnable league to a bonafide ACC contender and nationally relevant program.

And while it’s easy to point back to this game in retrospect and say that, it really did feel like it mattered at the time. We knew we were watching a program mature throughout that ACC run and handling Syracuse on a national stage to clinch the title was just more confirmation. The fact that they followed it up with many more good years makes the memory even more special and stand out from other games, like the “Singletary shot” against Duke for example, because it wasn’t a flash in the pan.

It wasn’t the beginning of the renaissance as much hard work had been put in, but in this game, the flower finally bloomed.


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