The Good, Bad and Ugly From No. 18 Virginia’s Victory Over Syracuse

The Virginia Cavaliers extended their winning streak once again.

Virginia Cavaliers guard Dallin Hall and Syracuse Orange guard Bryce Zephir | Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

The Virginia Cavaliers clinched a 72-59 victory over the Syracuse Orange yesterday, securing their fourth consecutive win. Now, the Cavaliers are standing at 20-3 overall and 9-2 in conference play—a strong way to kick off what will soon become a rough stretch of games for UVA.

With another victory added to their resume, let's take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from yesterday's meeting with Syracuse.

The Good

Virginia Cavaliers center Ugonna Onyenso | Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

Virginia's defense in the second half started to improve, which ultimately allowed the Cavaliers to pull ahead in the end. In total, UVA recorded nine steals and posted 17 points off turnovers. Syracuse was quick to run up the court with the ball, putting the Cavaliers in a dangerous position. Fortunately, Virginia was able to bounce back defensively to seal the victory. As head coach Ryan Odom explained during his postgame press conference:

"... They were getting too deep, and they got some in transition, too, which wasn't great for us. They got up the court really fast, and they were to the rim. They're really good in transition, similar to Carolina, but our whole thing with their guards was let's try to not allow them to get quite as close. So those shots are a little bit further away, without allowing them when they do get down there, if they're going really fast. Well, now that's where Ugo and Johann come into play, and we have to veer those at the late."

The Bad

Virginia Cavaliers forward Thijs de Ridder | Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

Freshman Thijs De Ridder is primarily known for his ability to find the basket on offense. However, this was one of his lowest games of the season in terms of points. By the end of the contest, he recorded just nine points, five rebounds and one assist, while shooting 27.3% from the floor. The only time he scored below this was when he faced Dayton and Maryland, posting 7 and 5 points, respectively.

"I think he's handled it [attention and traffic on the court] really well until today. I thought today he was a little bit disjointed. I thought some of them he should have actually shot the ball and gone ahead and gotten it up on the glass there, and he was passing it out a little bit too early before they came and he was anticipating that they were coming and when they weren't and they were just kind of in there and I think you saw at the end of the game when Dallin didn't make the shot, but he moved and relocated when Devin was in the post and then Chance ended up doing it there late in the game..."

The Ugly

Virginia Cavaliers guard Chance Mallory and Syracuse Orange guard Naithan George | Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

At this point in the season, it's rare for the Cavaliers not to play a foul-heavy game. This time around, UVA recorded 14 fouls to the Orange's 11. Unsurprisingly, Virginia still holds the helm at No.1 in the ACC when it comes to fouling (19.1 per game), sitting just above the Florida State Seminoles (19.0 per game). This will continue to be an area of improvement for the Cavaliers.