UVa and Syracuse Register Wins to Kick Off Big Ten/ACC Challenge 2017

The 2017 Big Ten/ACC Challenge tipped off with a pair of games Monday night.

The Syracuse Orange welcomed in the Maryland Terrapins to open the event, and the 18th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers hosted the Wisconsin Badgers to draw the night to a close.

Monday merely whet the appetite of college basketball fans ahead of highly anticipated matchups, including the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes and No. 12 Minnesota Golden Gophers on Wednesday and the third-ranked Michigan State Spartans and fifth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Thursday.

Below are the scores from Monday and a brief recap of the two games.

Monday Results

Syracuse Orange 72, Maryland Terrapins 70

No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers 49, Wisconsin Badgers 37

Monday Recap

Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

Maryland's comeback attempt fell short as Syracuse remained unbeaten with a 72-70 victory Monday.

Kevin Huerter pulled up from NBA range and hit a three-pointer with 7.2 seconds remaining to bring the Terps to within a point, 70-69. Tyus Battle responded by breaking the Maryland press and getting a dunk at the other end to give the Orange a three-point cushion, which proved to be enough to earn the win.

Syracuse shared highlights from the game:

Battle stepped up big late in the game for Syracuse. The sophomore guard scored his team's final nine points of the game, and he finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Oshae Brissett and Frank Howard delivered double-doubles for the Orange as well. Each player scored 15 points, while Brissett grabbed 13 rebounds and Howard dished out 10 assists.

Huerter (23 points) was the game's leading scorer. Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said he had been an admirer of the Terrapins sophomore before Huerter arrived in Maryland.

"Huerter is a trem. plyr.," Boeheim said, per a tweet from Syracuse play-by-play announcer Matt Park. "We wanted him bad. We just didn't have a scholarship. The NCAA thing, that's what hurts ya. He'd be perfect."

Maryland led with 1:47 left in the game but couldn't hold on to the lead. The Terps were their own worst enemy—committing 18 turnovers—and NBC Sports Washington's JP Finlay thought they fell apart in the final minutes:

Beating the Purdue Boilermakers in its first game of conference play Friday will help Maryland quickly from Monday's defeat.

Syracuse, on the other hand, may have a difficult time maintaining its perfect record much longer, as it faces off with the second-ranked Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday in Miami.

Virginia got the ACC off to a 2-0 start in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge with a 49-37 win over Wisconsin.

The Cavaliers led by just four points at halftime, 24-20, but their suffocating defense allowed them to open a healthy advantage as the game went on. The Badgers shot 31.3 percent from the field and made three of their 20 attempts from beyond the arc.

Needless to say, the lack of offense and slow pace to the game left some college basketball fans a little underwhelmed by the action on the court in Charlottesville, Virginia:

Between the two teams, four players scored in double figures.

Ethan Happ led Wisconsin with 14 points, but the Badgers' star received little support from his teammates. Outside of Happ, Wisconsin players shot 9-of-38 from the field.

Kyle Guy and Devon Hall had 16 and 17 points, respectively, for Virginia. Isaiah Wilkins also helped give the Cavaliers a 39-30 edge on the boards by collecting 10 rebounds.

The good news for Wisconsin, which faced four ranked opponents in its first seven games, is that it won't face another Top 25 foe until Jan. 26, when it hits the road against Michigan State.

Virginia has a winnable game ahead Saturday against Lehigh before what should be an interesting clash of styles Dec. 5 against the No. 19 West Virginia Mountaineers.