Syracuse pushes Virginia Tech in, breeze to win (quick hits from Donna Ditota)

Syracuse, NY – Virginia Tech visited the Carrier Dome on Saturday, the first of two teams in Virginia. Syracuse’s male basketball team will play for three days. Both teams – the Hokies of Virginia Tech and the Cavaliers of Virginia – are classified. Both provided opportunities for an Orange team that was trying to make a good impression in the middle of the season.

The game had an interesting first half before SU took the lead and took a 40-34 lead to the locker room. The second part? A different story. Syracuse controlled the painting, controlled the score and waltzed out of the Dome with a 78-60 victory.

Here’s what happened:

At the break, each team he had already established how they planned to win the game. Virginia Tech, which fires 35 percent as a team from the 3-point line, would drop bombs on the SU zone. Orange, which had a distinct size advantage in all positions, would either direct it or try to get the ball as close to the edge as possible.

The results were fascinating. The Hokies overcame Orange by 18-3 on the 3-point line at halftime. SU was 1 to 6 there, while Va Tech was 6 out of 17. Syracuse had some initial problems locating Nahiem Alleyne, who was excellent in that first half (5-12 in total, 4-7 out of 3). But Virginia Tech had almost nothing in the painting.

SU surpassed Hokies 26-10 in that region. All the Orange players, it seemed, took the opportunity to isolate and retreat a Virginia Tech defender. “Patience! Patience!” Shouted a SU technical assistant (he didn’t know who it was) when Buddy Boeheim was maneuvering in Alleyne.

That was the story of the game: Syracuse took advantage of its size to hit the smaller defenders. And after Virginia Tech’s first wave of 3-point shots, Orange reached snipers more quickly and decisively. And see: SU surpassed Virginia Tech 46-24 in painting.

Alan Griffin came to play on the charts on Saturday. Against a team that is not particularly tall, he was active and ubiquitous on the glass. Griffin managed eight rebounds in the first half, helping Orange to have a 22 to 18 lead on the exchanges.

Griffin, in general, was a very good Saturday. He used his size to reach the edge and score points on the smaller defenders (SU theme!). He missed a big 3 at the start of the second half on a day that SU didn’t (or took) many of them. He was active and energetic throughout the contest. He finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks.

Marek Dolezaj scored 14 points in the first half, six of them from the free-throw line. He put the ball on the ground and tried to pass one of a trio of defenders assigned to him.

What draws the most attention in Dolezaj is his improvement in the free throw line. He came into play with 82.6% of pitches. Two seasons ago, he hit 59.1% there. He had 8 of 8 against Virginia Tech on Saturday. No other Orange player reaches the line more than Dolezaj this season. He scored 18 against the Hokies.

Virginia Tech, surprisingly, I didn’t get anything from Keve Aluma on Saturday. He’s been so good and instrumental to the Hokies this season. He hit 0 out of 6 in the first half and never looked comfortable trying to finish off all that hectic traffic from Syracuse near the edge. His lack of production (he also made two faults) was a major reason for the painting discrepancy.

He finished with two points out of 1 out of 10 shots. Damn it.

Syracuse’s defense was quite effective against the Hokies, who started hot from the 3-point line and then cooled down considerably.

Orange sent its wings higher to protect the Tech wing 3-pointer. SU was really active in the middle near the edge too. Griffin and Quincy Guerrier were just jumping machines in there.

The result? Virginia Tech had 9 of 29 shots in the second half. That is 31%. The Hokies made two 3-point shots after the break.

This and that: Quincy Guerrier had 20 points and 9 rebounds. So close to that double-double. … Kadary Richmond again had his first half moments. He pulled back the much smaller Jalen Cone on the track and scored. He found Dolezaj with a sweet pass. But he also suffered three fouls, the last of which was a silly reach of the press, which limited him to eight minutes. Highlight of the second semester? A sweet dribble by Hunter Cattoor and a spin and finish on the edge. Oh, and he made a 3 that the whole Orange bank hoped for. He finished with 13 points in 15 minutes. … Jesse Edwards played for limited minutes on Saturday. Dolezaj was effective and didn’t miss the first foul until 12:37 of the second half. … Frank Anselem warmed up with his teammates on Saturday. A spokesman for SU said Anselem, who was away while being medically released, has been more involved in practices lately. … Buddy Boeheim is still looking for his shot. He was 3 out of 13 overall and 1 out of 5 out of 3.

Donna Ditota is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. Have a comment or idea for a story? Talk to her at [email protected].

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