Virginia vs. Syracuse: Score and Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

The race for ACC supremacy received a jolt Saturday when the Syracuse Orange upset the Virginia Cavaliers 66-62 at the Carrier Dome. 

Virginia entered play ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 and was coming off a strong performance against Virginia Tech on Wednesday. 

Syracuse has finally started to find momentum this season. This marks its fourth straight win overall and its second over a team ranked in the Top 10 at the time (Florida State). The Orange still own a pedestrian 15-9 mark overall, but they are now 7-4 in conference play. 

After trailing by 12 points at halftime, Syracuse went on a furious 25-7 rally over the first 12 minutes of the second half to take a 47-41 lead. 

Freshman Tyus Battle and graduate transfer Andrew White III were Syracuse's offensive heroes. They combined to score 46 of the team's 66 points, with White also adding five rebounds, two assists and three steals.

Battle's performance continues to get better as he gets more comfortable in Syracuse's offense. He's scored at least 13 points in six of the last 10 games, and his 23 points Saturday marked a career high, per ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

Head coach Jim Boeheim's 2-3 zone defense caused Virginia all sorts of problems, and the Cavaliers finished with 15 turnovers in the loss. The key difference in the game was at the free-throw line, where Syracuse finished 13-of-20 and Virginia 2-of-5. 

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Syracuse's ability to take advantage of the turnovers also likely signaled doom for Virginia:

The Cavaliers shot well from the field by going 24-of-50 overall, including 12-of-24 from three-point range. They just didn't attack the basket enough to draw fouls and were so sloppy with the ball that it made a comeback impossible to pull off. 

This game also shined a light on Virginia's lack of a dominant No. 1 scorer. London Perrantes came into Saturday leading the Cavaliers with 12 points per game, and just three total players average at least 10 points. 

Perrantes was the only Virginia starter in double figures with 11 points. Kyle Guy led the team in scoring with 14 points off the bench. 

Mark Titus of The Ringer had a humorous take on Virginia head coach Tony Bennett:

Syracuse and Boeheim have had Bennett's number lately. The Orange earned a berth in last year's Final Four by outscoring the Cavaliers 47-27 in the second half. A similar pattern played out Saturday, albeit with lower stakes. 

This game had a bittersweet flavor for Syracuse's head coach, with Donna Ditota of the Post-Standard providing context:

Officially, this game will not go into the record books as Boeheim's 1,000th career win. The NCAA vacated 108 of those victories as part of sanctions handed down in 2015 due to various infractions, including academic misconduct and a booster giving money to Syracuse basketball players. 

On the bright side for Boeheim, Syracuse continued to boost its resume for the NCAA tournament by posting another impressive win over a ranked opponent. The Orange are 1.5 games behind North Carolina for the top spot in the ACC, while Virginia falls one game behind the Tar Heels in the conference standings.

Virginia doesn't have much time to figure things out with a home game against No. 6 Louisville on Monday. Another loss against one of the ACC's top teams would destroy the confidence of a team that looked like one of the nation's best just one week ago. 

Postgame Reaction

Never one to shy away from offering his honest take on things, Boeheim sounds like he's considering this career win No. 1,000.

"Whatever number it is I have, I've been a part of a 1,000 wins," Boeheim told ESPN after the game (h/t Mike Waters of Syracuse.com). "We might not have that many on the record, but I've been here for a 1,000 wins. That's a lot of wins [sic]."

Battle, John Gillon and White talked about the tide's turning after the second half and where the team is headed down the final stretch of the regular season, via Syracuse Athletics: