By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia collected its 20th victory of the season on Saturday, dropping Syracuse at John Paul Jones Arena by a score of 72-59.

With the positive result, the Cavaliers (20-3, 9-2 ACC) are riding a four-game winning streak as they continue to build momentum with around a month left in the regular season.

Junior marksman Sam Lewis led the way offensively for Ryan Odom’s squad with 16 points, knocking down four 3-pointers on the afternoon.

Ugonna Onyenso was the only other Wahoo in double figures with 10 points (5 for 8 FG) off the bench, as the team only shot at a 41-percent clip (26 for 63) from the field but still held the lead for the majority of the contest. Onyenso also pulled down a team-high 8 rebounds, blocked 3 shots and stole the ball twice in 23 minutes.

The Orange (13-11, 4-7) grabbed an early 8-4 advantage before UVA scored 10 unanswered points and never trailed again. The Cavaliers built a 31-20 lead, but Syracuse used a 13-2 spurt of its own to knot the score at 33-all with 3:20 until halftime. Jacari White sank a triple with 51 ticks left to give the Hoos a three-point edge at the break.

Lewis drilled three 3-pointers in the opening six minutes of the second half, helping to give the Hoos a 51-44 lead. Shortly after, Onyenso added a stickback dunk in transition to push it to 55-46, as the Cavaliers scored 17 points off of 13 Syracuse turnovers.

Thijs De Ridder struggled with his shot Saturday, finishing with 9 points on 3-of-11 shooting (0 for 4 from deep), but was awarded two points on a goaltending call on Syracuse’s William Kyle III, and the UVA lead was back to double digits at 59-48 with 8:42 remaining.

The Orange refused to throw in the towel, as a subsequent 9-2 run made it a four-point affair [61-57] with still five minutes to play.

The Hoos closed strong after a Nate Kingz bucket made it a two-possession game with 2:33 on the clock, finishing the contest on a 7-0 scoring run over the final 2:17 to seal the deal. De Ridder drew a pair of defenders before kicking it out to a wide-open Chance Mallory for 3, and then the first-year Charlottesville native put the icing on the cake with a perfect lob to Onyenso, who slammed home the alley-oop toss and then followed his own miss with just under a minute to go.

UVA limited the Orange’s leading scorer, sophomore Donnie Freeman (18.6 ppg), to a career-low 5 points on 2-of-11 shooting, with all of his scoring production coming before halftime.

Aside from Lewis, Onyenso and De Ridder, the Cavaliers got 8 points apiece from White and Malik Thomas, with each connecting on a pair of triples, and 5 each from Mallory, Dallin Hall and Johann Grünloh.

The team made 10 of its 30 3-point attempts (33 percent) and 10 of 14 from the free-throw line (71 percent), outrebounding the Orange, 38-28, with 17 offensive boards that led to 17 second-chance points.

For Syracuse, Georgia Tech transfer Naithan George scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, as the team made 49 percent of its field-goal attempts (25 of 51). Kingz and J.J. Starling each added 13 points.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• No. 18 Virginia improved to 20-3, 9-2 ACC
• UVA recorded its 30th 20-win season in school history
• Ryan Odom’s 20 wins ranks second behind Jeff Jones for most wins by a first-year head coach at UVA
• UVA is 12-1 at home
• UVA has scored 70 or more points in 22 of 23 games
• UVA (10 3-pointers) has made 10 or more 3-pointers in a school-record 14 games
• UVA led 38-25 at the half, improving to 18-2 when leading after 20 minutes
• UVA’s 12-0 run gave the Cavaliers a 16-8 lead
• Syracuse used a 13-2 run to tie the score at 33-33
• UVA won the rebound battle 38-28

Series Notes

• UVA is 15-7 all-time against Syracuse, including a 13-3 mark in ACC regular-season action, in the
  series that dates to 1983-84
• The Cavaliers have won 11 of the last 13 meetings in the series
• UVA has a four-game home win streak in the series and is 7-2 against the Orange at John Paul Jones Arena
• UVA had held Syracuse to 69 or fewer points in 17 of the last 18 meetings between the teams

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Sam Lewis (16), Ugonna Onyenso (10)
• Lewis (4 3-pointers) has made four or more 3-pointers in three of the past four games
• Lewis has reached double figures in 13 games (46 career)
• Onyenso has reached double figures in four games (6 career)
• Onyenso (3 blocks) has multiple blocks in 14 games
• Onyenso tied a career high with two steals
• Johann Grünloh (2 blocks) has multiple blocks in 14 games
• UVA started Dallin Hall, Malik Thomas, Thijs De Ridder, Lewis and Grünloh for the 22nd game
• Elijah Gertrude (illness) was ruled out prior to the game

UP NEXT

Virginia travels to Tallahassee for a 7-p.m. tipoff at Florida State on Tuesday (ESPNU).

Saturday’s ACC Scoreboard

Virginia 72, Syracuse 59
Louisville 88, Wake Forest 80
NC State 82, Virginia Tech 73
Miami 74, Boston College 68
SMU 86, Pitt 67
Florida State 82, Notre Dame 79
North Carolina 71, Duke 68
Clemson 77, California 55
Stanford 95, Georgia Tech 72