SU men come out on top after close meeting with Boston College

After a 10-2 run from Boston College in the first three minutes of the game, Syracuse kicked it up a notch to consistently lead the Eagles and overtake them 77-71 at the Conte Forum.

A 31-point effort from Tyus Battle considerably helped the Orange (15-6, 6-2) each time Boston College (11-8, 2-5) tried to narrow the Syracuse lead. After the early Eagles lead within the first few minutes of the game, Oshae Brissett slammed down a dunk and had a lay-up to give the Orange an 18-15 lead over Boston College halfway through the first.

“They just couldn’t stop Tyus in the second half, and that was the ball game,” Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim said. “If he has it (the ball) in his hands, somebody else can’t screw it up. He beat Duke from the point, and he won this game from the point.”

Once the Syracuse defense regrouped, it became unstoppable. The Eagles had a difficult time finding open looks in the paint, and the usual zone defense was certainly not letting Boston shoot on the outside. The Eagles had a handful of shot clock violations throughout the game, giving the Orange the opportunity to increase its lead.

Buddy Boeheim tied his career-high 13 points tonight, hitting two key three-point shots in the first half to really give Syracuse a boost over Boston College. Buddy Boeheim is noticeably improving in each game, often taking risks that one definitely wouldn’t see from him in the beginning of the season. With 2:50 left in the game, Buddy Boeheim stole the ball from a Boston College player and went on a fast break to give Syracuse another two-point bump after a successful lay-up.

“I thought Buddy got some looks, and he’s been making them,” Boeheim said. “He makes them every damn practice, and he’s been making them once we got into the league.”

Another player who was key in keeping Syracuse on top was Paschal Chukwu. Chukwu ended with two points (both from free throws), but he grabbed some incredibly important rebounds in the last three minutes of the game. The first was at 3:52 when Elijah Hughes put up a three and missed; Chukwu was there to grab it and reset the shot clock, essentially giving the Orange one whole minute to regroup when they were only up by six points.

“Paschal, at the end of the game, he rebounded,” Boeheim said. “I don’t know what he was doing the first 20 minutes he was in there. We’ve got to get more out of our inside guys, our centers, than we’re getting.”

He snagged another with 1:08 left when Boston College was down by only eight. Battle went for a lay-up and missed, but Chukwu grabbed it and attracted a foul from Boston’s Steffon Mitchell, putting Chukwu at the stripe. These seemingly small plays from Chukwu really made a difference. If Boston would have pulled down those rebounds, it would have been 30 seconds for the Eagles to cut Syracuse’s lead down.

Overall, Syracuse shot about 55 percent in field goals (29-52) and 42 percent from deep (11-26), whereas Boston College shot 47 percent in field goals (21-45) and 40 percent from deep (9-22). The Orange finished with 12 turnovers and 26 rebounds, only slighter better than the Eagles’ 14 turnovers and 25 rebounds.

The Orange will face Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center Saturday at 6 p.m. Syracuse had a 74-63 victory over the Panthers at the Dome on Jan. 19.