Eddie Lampkin Jr. scored 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting as Syracuse pounded visiting Virginia 84-70 on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season finale for both teams.
Jyare Davis and Lucas Taylor each chipped in 15 points for the Orange (13-18, 7-13 ACC), who had lost five of their previous six games. Lampkin grabbed 10 rebounds to secure his sixth double-double in the last eight games.
Jacob Cofie scored 13 points to pace the Cavaliers (15-16, 8-12), who will enter the ACC tournament having lost four of their last six. Dai Dai Ames, with 10 points, was the only other Virginia player to score in double figures.
Syracuse scored eight of the game’s first 10 points en route to a 15-6 lead less than seven minutes into the game. Davis and Lampkin combined for 13 of those 15 early points.
Virginia trailed 20-12 after Cofie’s jumper with nine minutes left in the first half, but Syracuse countered a 9-1 run to take control of the contest. Naheem McLeod’s three-point play ignited the surge, which also included four points by Kyle Cuffe Jr.
The Cavaliers cut the deficit to 10 points with about four minutes left in the half, but Davis knocked down a 3-pointer on the other end and Taylor made one of his own shortly thereafter.
Lampkin’s bucket late in the half extended the lead to 19 points before a basket by Isaac McKneely brought the Cavaliers within 43-26 at the break.
Lampkin led all scorers with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the first half.
Taylor’s 3-pointer in the first minute of the second half extended the lead to 20 for the first time.
Virginia fought to get it back down to 14, but Syracuse answered with an 8-2 run – beginning with five straight points by Taylor – to stretch the lead back to 20 at 57-37.
The Orange, who have made a habit of squandering second-half leads this season, were never threatened down the stretch in this one. They led the Cavaliers by double digits for the entire second half.
–Field Level Media
