Syracuse is going to the Final Four thanks to one incredible 6-minute stretch of dominance

Virginia dominated 80% of their NCAA Tournament matchup with Syracuse, and yet, it is the Orange who are going on to the Final Four by getting hot when it mattered most.

UVA jumped out to a 35-21 lead at the half as Syracuse never got going in the first half. If we break it down by minute, outside of Tyler Lydon’s shoeless 3-pointer with just under three minutes left in the half, ‘Cuse did not score more than two points in any single minute of the first half and were held scoreless in half of the minutes.

Things weren’t much better for Syracuse in the first ten minutes of the second half, trailing 54-39 with 9.5 minutes to go. But then ‘Cuse got hot, going on a 25-4 run, scoring nearly 40% of all their points in one 6-minute stretch of late-game dominance. In that stretch, Syracuse was 9-10 shooting, 3-3 from three-point range, did not turn the ball over, and had three steals. Suddenly, with just over three minutes to go, Virginia actually trailed 64-58 and Syracuse went on to win 68-62.

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