For the second straight Saturday afternoon, students came crashing down from the bleachers and onto the blue tiles that covered the Carrier Dome turf with under a minute remaining.

This time, though, signs dotted the swarm that smiled, danced and yelled atop the court named for the coach that built the program. Nearly all the signs commemorated Jim Boeheim’s 1,000th win and jeered that Syracuse couldn’t officially recognize it.

Boeheim waved to the crowd and it replied with cheers similar to the ones it belted out all game long. And this time, the Top 10 win wasn’t the Orange’s first of the year but its second in a week, placing SU among the hottest college basketball teams in the nation.

“Unbelievable comeback,” Boeheim said. “Unbelievable.”

After trailing by 12 points at halftime, Syracuse (15-9, 7-4 Atlantic Coast) completed another come-from-behind win, 66-62, over No. 9 Virginia (17-5, 7-3) on Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. Boeheim downplayed the significance of the win that is only viewed by the NCAA as his 899th. Instead, Boeheim said, he was focused on win No. 15 of the season, one that catapults Syracuse’s resume a rung higher as it continues to climb toward Selection Sunday, just five weeks away.

Four games ago, the Orange hadn’t won a road game yet. It hadn’t beaten a marquee team. It hadn’t had a season anywhere close to warranting a Tournament bid. But SU beat Wake Forest in a nail-biter, triggered a court-storming with a win over then-No. 6 Florida State and clawed back from 16 down to beat North Carolina State in overtime.

All of a sudden, the team that Boeheim didn’t know how to explain a few weeks ago has shown its capable of hanging with the top dogs in a conference littered with many of the country’s best.

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MORE COVERAGE

• Tyus Battle scores career-high 23 points in Syracuse’s 66-62 upset win against No. 9 Virginia
• What we learned from Syracuse’s 66-62 comeback win over No. 9 Virginia
• Gallery: Syracuse beats No. 9 Virginia, 66-62
• Jim Boeheim on unofficial 1,000 wins: ‘I know how many wins I’ve had’

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“This team had a lot of adversity,” Boeheim said. “Obviously four games ago we were in a deep hole we had to work our way out of, and they’ve done a great job. Tonight was another great example. They just keep playing, they just keep fighting. I’m very proud of this team.”

Last spring, Boeheim said he was happier at the end of his team’s Final Four run than of any other team he’s coached. That team knocked off Virginia in the Elite Eight by battling back from 16 points down in the second half.

On Saturday, albeit with a new batch of players and without a trip to the sport’s biggest stage on the line, the Orange did it again. Syracuse clamped down on the defensive end, forcing UVA to commit 15 turnovers, five more than its season average.

“The talent’s always been there,” freshman forward Taurean Thompson said. “We’re good. But once we shut down on defense, play with that same ferociousness, we can be good. We can beat anybody.”

Cavalier shooters Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome combined to hit 7-of-11 3-pointers. The Orange’s wings pressed out to try and defend them. That often left Tyler Lydon at center on his own to cover two players at once. And while his six points don’t pop, his six rebounds, three blocks and two steals led Boeheim to describing his defensive performance as “tremendous.”

The emotions blended in a rematch of last year’s epic Elite Eight victory over Virginia, Boeheim’s unofficial 1,000th win and SU playing its best ball of the year all came together when Syracuse went on a 19-2 run to open the second half.

Thompson intercepted a London Perrantes pass and then hit a mid-range jumper on the opposite end. On the next offensive possession, John Gillon found Thompson open under the basket, lobbed him a pass and Thompson slammed in the alley-oop. The Orange pulled within four points just two and a half minutes into the half. As Thompson landed on the floor, fans popped up out of their seats. UVA head coach Tony Bennett was forced to take a timeout. The Orange bench flooded onto the court.

“It got me going,” Thompson said. “I just wanted to get everybody hype and get everybody else going.”

In the first 10 minutes after halftime, UVA hit two field goals and committed five turnovers. The Orange had hit eight from the field and its defense stood stout. Even when Boeheim subbed Gillon for backup point guard Frank Howard, SU stayed effective, evoking a much different meaning from the “What’s the difference?” question Boeheim posed about his point guards after his team lost to Notre Dame.

Down the stretch, Syracuse held on for dear life as it has to its entire season. After the Orange took a four-point lead, a loose ball led to a scramble on the floor. Boeheim crouched on the sideline, imagining he was on the floor too. Virginia even cut it to one when Perrantes hit a 3, but Gillon answered with an acrobatic layup to help seal out the win before the Cavaliers were relegated to fouling in the final minute

“All those efforts put together helped us get over the hump,” Gillon said.

Everything going on was, in some capacity, a reflection of Boeheim. The impenetrable zone. The 27,000-plus fans. The players the 41-year head coach brought in to execute his vision. And within a week, a season that was once in doubt, now has an awful lot more meaning.

“That’s life, that’s what life’s about,” Boeheim said. “What years do you get through it? Do you move on to the next stage? Are you able to do that? That’s all we try to do. Whatever happens, happens.”

Published on February 4, 2017 at 4:34 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds