SU squanders big lead, recovers to beat Boston College
SU squanders big lead but holds on against BC
Three takeaways from Syracuse’s 69-59 win over the Eagles on Wednesday.
Despite holding a 19-point lead near the end of the first half against Boston College on Wednesday night, Syracuse men’s basketball found itself needing to hold on for dear life down the stretch.
Hold on the Orange did, sweating out a 69-59 win over the Eagles at the JMA Wireless Dome.
With BC’s offense utterly inept for most of the first half, Syracuse jumped out to a 28-9 lead — and could’ve been up more than that — before the Eagles whittled it down to 32-22 at the break.
For most of the second half, the Orange had difficulty getting stops, seeing the lead continue to shrink until it vanished when BC went up 50-49 with about eight minutes left.
That might have been the wake-up call SU needed. From there, the Orange finished the game on a 20-9 run to move to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC.
Here are three takeaways from the victory:
Lineup re-shuffle
Syracuse’s starting five — unchanged in its first 14 games — looked a bit different on Wednesday night. About 90 minutes before the game, the program announced that center Naheem McLeod would be out indefinitely with a foot injury.
A bit closer to tip-off, it was revealed that sophomore point guard Judah Mintz would be coming off the bench. In the post-game press conference, Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry revealed that the move was a result of “a little violation of team rules.” Autry expects Mintz to be back among the starters on Saturday at North Carolina.
Once Mintz checked in about eight minutes into the game, he played the rest of the way, tallying 10 points, three assists, and three steals.
Sophomores Quadir Copeland and Maliq Brown made their first starts of the season, and both kept up their impressive levels of play. Copeland finished the game with seven points, six rebounds, four assists, and zero turnovers.
Brown took the stat sheet-stuffing to another level. He put up 19 points, eight rebounds, four blocks, four assists, and four steals. He also quieted BC’s star center Quinten Post, who failed to score in the game.
Bell breaks out
It’s been a frustrating last few games for sophomore forward Chris Bell. In the four games before Wednesday, the sharpshooter was just 5-for-20 from the field and 1-of-9 from three while not playing more than 19 minutes in any of those contents.
Against the Eagles, Bell found his stride once again. He made his opening long-range attempt of the game — always a good sign — and got a couple of breakaway dunks in the first half that came from steals.
Bell had saved his most important contributions for the second half. After SU fell behind 50-49, he immediately answered with a 3-pointer to give the Orange the lead back.
Bell led all scorers with 20 points on an 8-for-14 shooting night which included a 4-of-9 mark from long range. If he can find some consistency in conference play, it would be a great help for the Orange.
Defensive disruption
For about 16 minutes in the first half, it was easy to predict how a Boston College possession was going to end. With a miss or a steal.
The Eagles gave the ball away 13 times in the first half, with Syracuse repeatedly jumping into passing lanes and turning those giveaways into 16 points by the halftime break. BC wasn’t helping its case by shooting just 29 percent from the floor in the first half.
The Orange should’ve been up by about 20 at the half, and, of course, the Eagles mounted a comeback.
While the defense wasn’t as good in the second half, BC still turned the ball over nine more times to finish with 22 on the evening.
Syracuse got some late steals and held BC to just four points in the final 4:44 of the game.
Brown finished with four steals for SU, while Copeland and Mintz each had three.
The Orange return to action on Saturday with a challenging task at No. 7 North Carolina. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m.
is the Sports Lead Producer for The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.