That’s 1,000 losses handed out by Jim Boeheim.

After winning three straight, the Syracuse Orange returned home to take on the Virginia Cavaliers. Coming into the game, ESPN BPI percentages favored Virginia by 73 percent. This team continues to defy the odds as Syracuse came back in the second half to win 66-62.

Virginia was absolutely stifling on defense as it forced Syracuse into 7 first half turnovers and limited SU to 25 percent shooting from downtown. Conversely, Virginia shot 7-11 from outside in the first behind three from Kyle Guy and the Hoos took a 34-22 lead into intermission.

In the antithesis to the second half of the NC State game, Syracuse came out on a raucous 17-2 run. After a pair of Andrew White threes, a Tyler Lydon bomb from downtown gave Syracuse its first lead of the game at 39-36. Virginia and Syracuse traded baskets down the stretch. Once again it was John Gillon who made a key shot with less than a minute to go when Virginia cut the lead to one. Later, in a two point game with 15.7 remaining, White calmly stepped to the line and knocked down two free throws and Syracuse got a key defensive stop on the ensuing possession to win 66-62.

Jim Boeheim has now handed out 1,000 losses in his career.

Stats

Syracuse was led by White who stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. Tyus Battle re-emerged for 23 points and made some timely buckets in crunch time. Tyler Lydon added 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals.

Next Up

With the win Syracuse moves to 15-9 and 7-4 in the conference. The Orange now travel to take on Clemson on Tuesday. That game tips at 8 pm from LittleJohn Coliseum.