Virginia 59 - Syracuse 47: Five Big Takeaways

The Syracuse Orange fell to the Virginia Cavaliers, 59-47, at the Carrier Dome on Monday. Here are five takeaways:

1. Christmas gets sent off with loss.

It wasn't the most ideal senior night for Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse's lone senior on scholarship. The center had just 11 points and four rebounds in his final game at the Carrier Dome as a member of the Orange.

Christmas, who ranks third in the ACC in points per game and fourth in rebounding, has a case for ACC Player of the Year -- something that would have been hard to believe a year ago. But it still must be frustrating for him to go out this way.

2. Virginia outperforms Syracuse on the glass.

Throughout the night, the Orange had trouble keeping up with the Cavaliers on the boards. Virginia outrebounded Syracuse, 42-20, and had 16 offensive rebounds. Three Virginia players had at least eight rebounds, while no SU player had more than six. It's incredibly difficult to beat a team as exceptional as UVA to begin with and near-impossible when the Hoos dominate on the glass like they did last night.

3. Gbinije stays cold.

Michael Gbinije went just 2-for-11 from the field and 1-for-6 from 3, scoring only eight points. It was the first time he's failed to reach double figures since scoring nine in a loss to Miami on January 24.

The junior's shooting stroke has suddenly gone ice cold. In SU's past four games, he's shooting 27.1 percent from the field and is even worse (20 percent) from beyond the arc. For a guy who was making better than 50 percent of his 3-pointers, it's been quite the drop-off.

4. Kaleb enters the doghouse.

He's been subjected to much criticism from Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim throughout the season, but prior to Monday, Kaleb Joseph had started all of SU's games and had played at least 16 minutes in each. Last night, the freshman point guard sat for the entire first half and only saw three minutes of action in the second half. It's been a season of peaks and valleys for Joseph. Last night might have been the lowest of his lows.

5. The Orange won't get to 20 wins.

For the first time since the 1996-97 season, Syracuse will not reach 20 wins this season. Because they self-imposed a 2015 postseason ban, the Orange, currently sitting at 18-11 overall, will play their final game of the 2014-15 season at NC State on Saturday. By SU's standards, this season will be remembered as a failure. But here's what I will say about this team: even after the ban was announced, Syracuse played its heart out every time it stepped on the court. If nothing else, that's something to be proud of.