SYRACUSE, N.Y. — What a palate cleanser that was. A week after being embarrassed by Pittsburgh, Syracuse embarrassed a nationally ranked team. Look at the Orange, exploiting mismatches, contesting 3s, helping one another on the low block, communicating, calling out screens and humming along to a 78-60 win over No. 16 Virginia Tech on Saturday afternoon. Following the disaster at Pitt, the Orange dropped to 1-3 in the conference. They needed direction. They responded with back-to-back defensive outings that suggest maybe they’ve found their stride.
When the horn sounded, high-fives were abound. “Atta boy, K!” someone yelled toward freshman Kadary Richmond, the sixth man and heartbeat of the defensive surge. The players walked with pep in their steps as they retreated to the locker room of a quiet gym. With the win, Syracuse bumped to 35th in KenPom, riding the 25th-most efficient offense in Division I and a defense that sits at a respectable 56th.
