hereHoos Make Themselves at Home in Dome
Two teams playing on short rest Monday night produced an ACC men’s basketball game that was far from an instant classic. That didn’t make its latest victory any less satisfying for sixth-ranked Virginia.
Not every game is going to be a blowout where we’re having 70-point, 80-point nights,” UVA forward Jayden Gardner said. “This one was a grind-it-out game, and it’s good to find different ways to win, so when we have this experience later in March, then we know what to do with it.”
With 85 seconds to play, Gardner missed a baseline jumper that would have pushed the Cavaliers’ lead over Syracuse to four points. From there, however, he contributed one big play after another at the JMA Wireless Dome.
With 60 seconds remaining, the 6-foot-6 Gardner stepped in front of the driving Jesse Edwards and took a charge, sending the Orange’s center, who’d totaled 14 points and seven rebounds, to the bench with his fifth foul.
With 33 seconds remaining, Gardner hit a midrange jumper that put UVA ahead 66-62.
“You just gotta have a shooter’s mentality, a Kobe Bryant mentality,” Gardner said. “Next shot. I missed a good look on the baseline, so I made it up on defense and finished the game on offense.”
Finally, after Syracuse guard Judah Mintz missed a 3-point attempt, Gardner grabbed his game-high eighth rebound and passed the ball to teammate Armaan Franklin, who was fouled with 13.6 seconds to play.
Franklin went 1 for 2 from the line, and UVA walked off with a 67-62 victory. The win was the seventh straight for the Wahoos (17-3 overall, 9-2 ACC) and gave them a regular-season sweep of the Orange (13-10, 6-6).
“They beat us, just like they beat everyone else,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.
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