Beyond ridiculous: UVA hosed at the line again?

OK, yes, this free throw nonsense isn’t getting ridiculous at this stage; it’s well beyond ridiculous if you’re a UVA basketball fan.

Virginia went to the free-throw line five times on Saturday in a 66-62 loss at Syracuse, against an opponent that shot 20 charity tosses.

That’s the fourth time this season that a UVA opponent has attempted 20 or more free throws in a game that had the Cavs shooting five or less.

You don’t need to be told that all four instances resulted in Virginia losses – on a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left, in overtime, on a tip-in at the buzzer, and now by four points on the road in an arena with the biggest crowd of the college-basketball season to date.

To be fair, six of Syracuse’s attempts came in the final 29 seconds as Virginia tried to play the clock down two with the shot clock no longer a factor.

Also worth pointing out that two of Virginia’s five attempts had come with 32 seconds left.

That all said, taking the clock free throws out leaves us at a 14-5 discrepancy, and forces us to analyze why.

It’s not an exact science, but a good way to judge how teams are doing in attacking the lane is looking at their respective shot charts.

Virginia attempted 18 shots at the rim – layups or dunks (making nine, against pretty good Syracuse challenges at the rim). Syracuse attempted 12 (and made eight).

Attack advantage: Virginia.

The Cavs were 3-of-8 for the game on jumpers – basically, anything outside the rim or the immediate area. Syracuse was 7-of-11 on jumpers.

‘Cuse was 8-of-19 on threes; Virginia 12-of-24.

Doing the quick math, Virginia put up 32 jumpers of either the two- or three-point variety, and Syracuse put up 30.

Which is basically a wash, right?

Looking at the defensive side, then, first let’s look at blocked shots. UVA was credited with four, Syracuse with five.

Both teams were equally aggressive contesting shooters.

Steals: Syracuse had 11, Virginia 5.

Syracuse was a bit more into it pressuring ball-handlers.

And was assessed, for the game, total, with nine fouls. Virginia had 15.

Villanova, you might remember, was assessed with eight fouls to UVA’s 18 in that tip-in win last week in Philadelphia.

Memo to whoever is responsible for overseeing this stuff: we’re not asking that you blow phantom whistles to make the stats look better. Just call the stuff on the floor the same on both ends, and the Cavs will be fine.

Column by Chris Graham