Can Sanchez keep Tony Bennett’s streak alive vs. Syracuse?

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Nobody has ever ruled over Syracuse the way Tony Bennett did. In 14 games against the Orange, Bennett’s Virginia teams always seemed to find a way to win. In fact, Bennett was 12-2 against ‘Cuse.

Didn’t matter where the game was played — Charlottesville, the Carrier Dome (since changed names) in Syracuse, or on the moon — the Cavaliers mastered the Orange. Hoos your daddy, Jim Boeheim?

Bennett’s teams were 6-2 at Syracuse, even though the Orange sometimes had a better team. Virginia has won five in a row at the Dome and has won six in a row against Syracuse, regardless of the site.

The question is, can Ron Sanchez capture the same magic as Virginia travels to Syracuse tonight (8 p.m., ACC Network)? Oddsmakers say no, making the Orange a 1-point to 1.5-point favorite. They’ve been wrong before in this series.

UVA (15-15, 8-11 ACC) is tied for ninth place in the conference with Virginia Tech, heading into next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte. The Hokies are 17-point underdogs against Clemson today. Even if Virginia also loses, the Cavaliers would win the tie-breaker with Tech because Sanchez’ team has defeated a higher-ranked team than the Hokies have, unless Tech stuns Clemson. UVA has a win over Wake Forest.

Syracuse (12-18, 6-13) is tied for 14th and even though the Orange are struggling once again, the school’s AD, John Wildhack, announced this week that Coach Adrian Autry will return for a third year.

Sanchez is kind of twisting in the wind as UVA’s interim coach. AD Carla Williams has conducted a national search, of which Sanchez is a candidate, but no word on whether he will return or be replaced. Virginia hired a search firm in Georgia, paying $45,000 according to reports, but from some of the names that have leaked out, there’s not a lot to get excited about.

If Sanchez can keep the Cavaliers close tonight at Syracuse, then his team has a chance. Autry’s Orange has displayed a penchant for choking down the stretch in recent games, blowing a 16-point lead vs. Pitt, losing a 13-point lead to Virginia Tech in the last three minutes, and then, after leading SMU for 35 minutes, and up 63-51 with 10 minutes to play, Syracuse lost 77-75 this week.

The Orange are led by junior guard JJ Starling, 18 points per game, Eddie Lampkin, a grad student center scoring 11 points and grabbing 9.6 rebounds a game, then junior forward Chris Bell (9.9 ppg) and senior forward Jyare Davis (8.9).

If Virginia can wrap up the No. 9 seed, it can gain a first-round bye next week, face the No. 8 seed on Wednesday, but will be paired up with No. 1 Duke in Thursday’s quarterfinals (see updated standings, Saturday’s schedule and the full bracket below).

The Cavaliers are led by Isaac McKneely, who averages 14.2 points per game and has 93 triples, shooting 41.7 percent from the 3-point arc. Dai Dai Ames has been on quite a streak, averaging 15.3 points over his last nine games and shooting 57.9 percent during that span. Elijah Saunders is second on the team in scoring (10.6) and in rebounding (5.1) and seems to have recovered from his late-season injury, having contributed heavily the past few games.

Andrew Rohde, who pulled off a miracle, winning 3-point shot to bury Florida State in Virginia’s latest outing, is third on the team in scoring (9.6) and has 4.4 assists per game.

UVA’s 3-point shooting has been incredibly consistent as exhibited against FSU, when Coach Leonard Hamilton said he couldn’t afford to slack off any of Virginia’s 3-point shooters because they were all so efficient. That could be a huge key in tonight’s game. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 22 nationally in 3-point shooting with a team 38 percent average.

ACC Saturday Schedule

NC State at Miami, Noon (The CW)
Stanford at Louisville, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)
Georgia Tech at Wake Forest, 2:15 p.m. (The CW)
SMU at Florida State, 4 p.m. (ESPNU)
California at Notre Dame, 4 p.m. (ACC Network)
Virginia Tech at Clemson, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Boston College at Pitt, 6 p.m. (ACC Network)
Duke at North Carolina, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Virginia at Syracuse, 8 p.m. (ACC Network)