GREENSBORO, N.C. — With about two minutes left in Syracuse’s (22-8, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) game against Virginia Tech (18-12, 6-10), the Hokies ran down the floor up 10 with a full shot clock. Aisha Sheppard, a VT guard, didn’t care. She shot a 3 with over 20 seconds remaining on the shot clock. She drained it. A dagger which put Virginia Tech up 13.

The Hokies went on to win, 85-70, over SU, in the second round of the ACC Tournament. VT will go on to play top-seed Louisville on Friday at 2 p.m. Syracuse will have to wait on its NCAA Tournament fate at home.

Here are three takeaways from the Orange loss.

Epic collapse

Syracuse led the Hokies by 14 at the halftime break. The lead was chopped to nine by the end of three quarters. But nothing suggested what would come next.

The Orange didn’t score for the first 5:20 of the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Hokies scored 17 points in that span. Isis Young was fouled on a drive and finally able to put Syracuse on the fourth-quarter board with a free throw. It didn’t break the slump for the Orange. She missed the second free throw. Syracuse missed more shots. Digna Strautmane threw the ball right to VT’s Taylor Emery. Tiana Mangakahia got right into the lane off a crossover but threw it straight out of bounds.

The Hokies kept scoring. The Orange couldn’t. The final fourth quarter margin was 29-5 in favor of Virginia Tech.

Man-to-man full-court pressure for the last three minutes couldn’t undo the damage done in the first five minutes of the fourth. The Orange won’t play another game in Greensboro this tournament.

Track meet

On Sunday in the Carrier Dome, Syracuse struggled at times to score in its win over Boston College, a team with just two ACC wins. On Thursday afternoon, that wasn’t the case. The Orange came out and scored 48 first-half points, making 18-of-36 shots for a 50 percent first-half clip.

It didn’t matter whether the Hokies made shots or missed. Syracuse got the ball to Mangakahia, who pushed the pace. Sometimes, she got all the way to the hoop and shot a right-handed scoop shot to score. Another occasion, she stepped back and drained a jumper from the free-throw line. On a third, she just pulled up at the top of the 3-point arc and knocked it down.

In the second half, both teams kept pushing the pace. Virginia Tech needed to get back in the game doing what it does best: score. In the third, the Hokies outscored the Orange 22-17, with players not hesitating to shoot off the first pass of the possession for both teams. At the end of the third, SU head coach Quentin Hillsman waved his arms to get SU to sprint back to the bench, too.

Even when Virginia Tech scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to make it a one-point game, SU’s Young took a 3 off the first pass of a possession. But for the first time, the Hokies benefited from the quick pace. VT scored the first 17 of the fourth quarter. And the Orange, who ran and ran throughout the first three quarters, ran out of gas in the fourth.

Waiting game

Earlier this week, ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme listed Syracuse as a seven seed in the NCAA Tournament. The loss on Thursday shouldn’t impact the Orange’s presence in the dance unless teams qualify with automatic berths that wouldn’t make it otherwise.

A team like Virginia Tech probably would need to at least make the ACC tournament final, if not win it, to get into the NCAA Tournament. But if the Hokies did that, there could be one less spot for the Orange.

Wins over then-No. 11 Florida State and then-No. 17 Duke are the Orange’s signature wins. They also beat high-major teams at the Paradise Jam over Thanksgiving break. But the one thing SU lacks is a signature road win. As Syracuse fans know all too well, sometimes the lack of a big road win is enough for the selection committee to shake its head “no.” After the late collapse Thursday, all the Orange can do is wait.

Published on March 1, 2018 at 4:15 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3