SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Jayden Gardner scored 17 points and made a jumper near the foul line in the final minute as No. 6 Virginia withstood a second-half surge by Syracuse to win its seventh straight game, 67-62 on Monday night.
Gardner, a fifth-year senior, drew a charge for the fifth foul on Syracuse big man Jesse Edwards with 1 minute left, then converted the shot with 37 seconds remaining to put the Cavaliers (17-3, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) up by four.
“You got to have a shooter’s mentality,” Gardner said. “I missed a good look on the baseline so I made up for it on defense and finished the game off. I was hoping (for the charge). If he called a block that would’ve been demoralizing.”
Kihei Clark and Armaan Franklin each scored 12 points for Virginia, which completed a sweep of Syracuse and moved within one game of ACC-leading Clemson.
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Judah Mintz scored 20 points and Edwards had 14 for Syracuse (13-10, 6-6), which has lost four of five.
Virginia twice led by eight points early in the first half, the biggest advantage for either team. The Cavaliers went ahead 46-39 early in the second half before Syracuse went on a 12-0 run that included a three-point play by Mintz, a 3-pointer and three free throws by Chris Bell, and a three-point play by Edwards.
“In the first half we got off to a good start defensively and made a lot of shots, then Syracuse really took it to us. They just got the ball in the paint at will, scored over the top. We looked a bit lifeless,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “We weren’t flying around and scrapping the way you have to on the road or in any ACC game. In the second half we got more aggressive, flew around, played even a little harder offensively with cuts and offensive rebounds, and then it was just a game of ebbs and flows. We just had to stay the course.
“This is how it is,” he added. “You get everybody’s best shot.”
Franklin helped rally the Cavaliers, making consecutive 3s for a 57-54 lead. Clark contributed a 3 with 3:10 remaining and two free throws with 2:35 left to give Virginia a six-point advantage.
The Cavaliers had a quick turnaround, flying to Syracuse on Sunday night after beating Boston College at home a day earlier.
“I think our tired legs showed,” Gardner said, “but we found a way to win. Not every game is going to be a blowout. This was a grind-it-out game so it’s good to come up with another way to win. This is a good experience so in March we’ll know what to do with it.”
Syracuse closed within two points late, but Edwards’ offensive foul cost the Orange a change to tie the game.
The Orange shot 50% against Virginia’s typically stout defense but went just 3 of 15 from 3-point range and 11 of 18 (61.1%) from the free-throw line. Meantime, Virginia shot 9 of 21 (42.9%) from long range and had success feeding Gardner in the post for easy baskets against Syracuse’s zone.
“We played easily the best game we played all year,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We had a lot of wide-open shots. You’re not going to beat Virginia if you shoot 3 of 15 from 3. If we made our free throws, we win.
“They beat us like they beat everybody else.”
Baylor guard Keyonte George looks to shoot as Texas guard Arterio Morris defends during the first half of Monday’s game in Austin, Texas.
NO. 10 TEXAS 76, NO. 11 BAYLOR 71: AUSTIN, Texas — Sir’Jabari Rice scored 21 points and Timmy Allen added 19 to send Texas to a win over Baylor in Austin, ending the Bears’ six-game win streak and keeping the Longhorns in a share of first place in the Big 12.
Rice made four 3-pointers in the second half and his two free throws with 16 seconds left put Texas (18-4, 7-2) ahead by five with the final points.
Baylor (16-6, 5-4) had closed to 72-71 on Keyonte George’s three-point play before Texas answered with Marcus Carr’s fallaway jumper with 27 seconds left. It was Carr’s first basket of the second half and just his second of the game.
Rice, a 29% 3-point shooter in Big 12 play, was 4 of 5 shooting from long range. Allen was 7 of 10 from the floor and made two free throws in the final minute that put the Longhorns ahead by four.
LJ Cryer scored 19 points to lead four Baylor players in double figures.
Texas Tech’s Kevin Obanor, top, rebounds the ball over teammate Kerwin Walton, second from left, and Iowa State’s Tre King, right, during the first half of Monday’s game in Lubbock, Texas.
TEXAS TECH 80, NO. 13 IOWA STATE 77 (OT): Texas Tech erased a 23-point deficit after halftime for its first Big 12 win of the season, with De’Vion Harmon scoring all 16 of his points after the break in an overtime victory against Iowa State in Lubbock, Texas.
The Red Raiders trailed 59-36 with 12:36 remaining after one of Caleb Grill’s career-best eight 3-pointers, but a 20-3 run started not long after to make it close down the stretch.
Kevin Obanor had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Raiders (12-10, 1-8 Big 12), who won their second consecutive game including a victory over LSU in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Grill scored 24 points but missed his final three 3-pointers after starting 8 of 9. One came on a frantic game-ending sequence in which the Cyclones (15-6, 6-3) missed three from long range trying to force a second overtime.
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