Three takeaways from Syracuse basketball’s 79-53 loss to Virginia

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team hosted its final home game in the Carrier Dome this season and played a solid first 20 minutes against the Virginia Cavaliers. The Orange built a two point lead at the break, only for Virginia to blow the hinges off this game by outscoring Syracuse by 28 points in the second to earn a 79-53 win.

Syracuse fell to 19-11 overall and 10-7 in the conference with the loss. While there wasn’t much positive from the Syracuse side of things during Monday night’s game, see our takeaways below.

Virginia shoots light out

What can you do? Virginia came into the dome and shot the lights out by knocking down 18-25 from deep. The Hoos shot a remarkable 72 percent from 3. There was almost nothing Syracuse could do but tip its hat. Yes, some 3s were open looks but by and large Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome knocked down tough, contested shots from range. De’Andre Hunter knocked down five 3s himself. That aforementioned troika combined to make all 18 of Virginia’s triples.

Hats off to Virginia. That was a shooting clinic.

Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

Solid first half for Paschal Chukwu

Senior center Paschal Chukwu started off hot in the first half on Senior Night. The 7-foot-2 big man shot 3-3 from the floor and 2-3 from the free throw line en route to 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in the first half.

As Syracuse went, so did the opportunities for Chukwu. He grabbed 3 more rebounds and 2 blocks in the second half but was held scoreless after the break.

Little to no harm for Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament hopes

The numbers from tonight’s game will hurt Syracuse’s efficiency a bit and perhaps its ranking in the NET, KenPom, etc. But there won’t be much harm done to Syracuse’s overall NCAA Tournament résumé. Virginia came into this game as the No. 2 team in the NET. This would have been a golden opportunity for Syracuse’s seeding, but a loss to Virginia won’t sting too bad.