Syracuse basketball blow-out of No. 16 Virginia Tech a season-defining win

Syracuse basketball crushing No. 16 Virginia Tech inside the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon isn’t, by itself, going to get the Orange in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

However, to call this 78-60 win for the ‘Cuse over the Hokies (11-3, 5-2) on the Hill a huge momentum builder is a total understatement, for numerous reasons.

For one, yes, this result does provide Syracuse basketball (9-4, 3-3) with a marquee Atlantic Coast Conference conquest for the team’s Big Dance resume.

This is also the Orange’s first success against a top-25 foe in about a year, and that has to be pivotal for the squad’s confidence moving forward.

Most importantly, a week ago, Syracuse basketball allowed a ridiculous 64 points in the second half at Pittsburgh, as the ‘Cuse fell by 20 points on the road.

Head coach Jim Boeheim totally laid into his team’s defensive effort, and rightly so. Perhaps that lit a fire for the Orange and created a sense of urgency for the players.

Since then, Syracuse basketball has collected a pair of home victories versus Miami and Virginia Tech in which the ‘Cuse absolutely clamped down on defense and in the rebounding arena.

Syracuse basketball was stellar on both ends of the floor in routing Virginia Tech.

The Orange locking in on defense is imperative to the team’s long-term success, as senior big man Marek Dolezaj acknowledged in a post-game Zoom call following the ‘Cuse demolition of the Hokies.

He said, in essence, that if Syracuse basketball can force turnovers and get stops in its 2-3 zone, it will prove a difficult squad to beat, because scoring usually isn’t a problem for the Orange.

Case in point, the ‘Cuse didn’t shoot well from beyond the arc on Saturday afternoon against Virginia Tech, so Syracuse basketball focused on scoring inside as well as from the free-throw line.

Additionally, the Orange rebounded quite well, junior small forward Alan Griffin had what seemed like a million blocks, and the ‘Cuse continues to limit its own careless mistakes.

Just an all-around tremendous performance for Syracuse basketball, as Boeheim said in his post-contest virtual call with media members. The team has missed games and tons of practices because of basketball-related pauses amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, and that makes it challenging for the players to get into a consistent rhythm.

Boeheim believes that his team is playing better, and it will face another tall task when the Orange travels to Charlottesville, Va., to square off with No. 13 Virginia on Monday evening.

The Cavaliers are really, really good, however, Syracuse basketball is on a roll. Let’s see if the ‘Cuse can make it two-straight encounters where it knocks off a top-20 group and one of the best squads in the ACC.

As I mentioned at the onset, besting the Hokies on its own won’t make the Orange a 2021 March Madness participant. But it’s an awesome start.