McKneely, Beekman power Virginia's 84-62 win over Syracuse in ACC opener

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- — Isaac McKneely scored 22 points, Reece Beekman added 13 points with eight assists, and hot-shooting Virginia defeated Syracuse 84-62 in an ACC opener on Saturday.

McKneely was 8-for-11 shooting, making 6-of-8 3-pointers, and grabbed five rebounds. Andrew Rohde added 10 points, four assists and three rebounds. Virginia shot 54.5% for the game and made 12 of 21 3-pointers (57.1%).

The Cavaliers (7-1) hit eight 3-pointers in the first 12 1/2 minutes of the second half, pushing a 13-point halftime lead to 33 points, 75-42. The Orange struggled from 3-point distance in the second half, making only 2 of 12, but a 10-0 run over a 3-minute stretch helped cut their deficit to 22 points by game's end.

JJ Starling led Syracuse (5-3) with 16 points and Maliq Brown added 10. Syracuse shot 40.7% overall and 5-for-20 on 3-pointers.

Judah Mintz, who leads Syracuse in scoring this season (20.4ppg coming in), was held to five points after going for a career-high 33 against LSU earlier in the week. Beekman was the primary defender against Mintz.

McKneely made 4 of 6 3-pointers and scored 16 points in the first, leading Virginia to a 37-24 halftime lead. The score was tied at 17 with 7 minutes left and the Cavaliers led 19-18 a minute later before closing the half an 18-6 run in which McKneely scored eight points.

Virginia improved to 15-0 in ACC openers under coach Tony Bennett.

Virginia returns to nonconference play with a home game against North Carolina Central on Tuesday. Syracuse also has a nonconference home game on Tuesday, against Cornell.

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