No Easy Days: Syracuse basketball defeats Boston College 75-67 (Brent Axe recap) - syracuse.com

Syracuse, N.Y. —Some wins are just weird.

That was the case on Saturday afternoon as the Syracuse University men’s basketball team held off Boston College for a 75-67 win at the Carrier Dome.

The Orange improved to 12-6, 6-5 in ACC play with the win.

Despite being down to seven scholarship players and missing two of its top talents, the Eagles never quite let Syracuse out of its sights even with the Orange maintaining a lead for 38 minutes and 46 seconds of Saturday’s contest.

Syracuse throttled BC by a score of 101-63 in the first matchup of the season back in December. Saturday’s version of the story was vastly different even with all five Orange starters scoring in double figures as it did in the first game.

Syracuse was in an undesirable situation on Saturday where its NCAA Tournament resume did not improve with a win over Boston College but would have had a giant stain on it with a loss.

The Orange got an unexpected grinder against the Eagles. Never the less, it got a win.

“In college basketball, you’re going to get into games and you’re going to have to find away to get through them” said Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim “We made our free throws coming down the stretch and we got the ball to the basket and made some plays there. We also finally got some good defensive stops and got the rebound. We made the plays when we had to, but it was one of those games where you have to figure out how to get to the end and win it, and we did that.”

The Sunny Side

Hey Joe

Syracuse vs. Boston College — Syracuse Orange guard Joseph Girard III (11) drives during a game between Syracuse and and Boston College in the Carrier Dome Feb.13, 2021. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

Joe Girard III put together his best half of basketball for the season on Saturday afternoon, scoring 16 points before halftime against the Eagles, adding three steals, three assists and six rebounds to the boxscore. The six boards his highest total since hauling in seven against Bryant in the season-opener on Nov. 27.

Girard played 36 minutes, the most logged in six games since playing 33 against Virginia Tech on Jan.23 and the second-highest total this season.

A solid offensive game for Girard usually indicates a good day from the 3-point line but he did much more against BC. While shooting two-of-three from distance, Girard was aggressive all over the court on the offensive end.

Girard’s versatility shined when he scored eight unanswered points in just over a minute to give Syracuse a 38-30 advantage with just under five minutes to play in the first half. In that sequence, Girard hit a 3, stole the ball and scored on a layup and kissed a shot off the glass in the paint.

Girard cooled off in the second half on the offensive end when the Orange attacked the paint more, but he made the biggest impact on a game this season with his solid first half against the Eagles.

“Joe saved us the first half,” SU coach Jim Boeheim said. “He was tremendous. He just kept us in the game. We would’ve been behind eight or 10 points at halftime if it wasn’t for Joe. He was just tremendous.”

Paint Patrol

The first few minutes of Saturday’s game felt like deja vu as the Orange hit 4-of-4 from 3-point range. In Syracuse’s 101-63 win over Boston College earlier this season, the Orange splashed in a single-game record 16 3-pointers.

When Boston College made a change on defense, Syracuse stepped the offense forward into the paint, out-scoring BC there 38-20.

Quincy Guerrier overcame a rough first half against Boston College to shine in the second half, nearly recording his eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and nine rebounds. He added four blocks.

Guerrier went to work on BC’s Steffon Mitchell in the second half with the Orange more determined to score in the paint. He fought for rebounds and tough shots inside and finished 6-of-9 from the free throw line.

Marek Dolezaj was more aggressive taking the ball to the hoop as the game wore on. Dolezaj finished with 13 points, including a 7-8 mark from the charity stripe.

All together, SU converted 18-of-23 shots from the free throw line.

“We have good free throw shooters, we want to try to get to the basket and try to get something,” Jim Boeheim said. “I think we were guilty of just trying to shoot some jump shots and try to win the game that way. And that’s not the way to do it.”

Alan is Alright

It was Girard’s day to carry the weight but the only thing holding back Alan Griffin from being the man was foul trouble.

Griffin scored 14 points in 31 minutes, including a 2-5 mark from 3-point range. He added eight rebounds, two steals and two steals to the boxscore while playing a good stretch of the second half with four fouls.

Griffin’s all-around game is rounding out at the exact right time for Syracuse. The Orange is still searching for an alpha that can consistently take over games and Griffin seems to be the best candidate.

He can score from the inside with a rock-solid jumper and has the ability to penetrate. Griffin is shooting 37% from the 3-point line. His defense is also improving as rotations in the 2-3 zone become more familiar.

Griffin has also been much better with the ball since committing six turnovers in three prior games this season. Since doing just that against North Carolina on Jan. 12, Griffin hasn’t committed more than three turnovers in SU’s last eight games.

The Dark Side

Orange Just Off

Syracuse entered Saturday’s game as a 13-point favorite. Boston College had won just three games and had several postponed. The Eagles were down to seven scholarship players.

Two of BC’s best players, guard Wynston Tabbs and center James Karnik, were not available due to COVID protocols. Tabbs is BC’s second-leading scorer. Karnik, a 6-9 senior scored 20 points in BC’s loss to Syracuse in December.

Even with all that weighing in Syracuse’s favor, it was anything but any easy day at the office.

Syracuse’s defense was not as sharp as the unit that collected 20 turnovers against a better NC State team last Tuesday. The Orange would build up double-digit leads, only to see them erased moments later.

The Orange committed 17 turnovers, tying a season-high.

Boston College kept pace in the second-half and no lead felt safe until Syracuse was up 71-59 with 2:22 left on the clock. The Eagles shot 36.4% (12-33) to SU’s 39% (9-23) and out-rebounded SU 19-18 in the second half.

Boeheim had to call timeout with 12:18 remaining to remind his team to start taking ill-advised shots as Guerrier, Buddy Boeheim, Kadary Richmond and Girard settled for bad shots.

Guerrier was nowhere to be found in the first half. Boeheim, despite scoring 13 points on the day, struggled with his handle and had two costly turnovers. Even Girard’s first-half heroics were cast aside momentarily when Boeheim told him “that’s not cool!” when he tossed ill-advised no-look passes.

There was something off throughout the game for Syracuse. It felt like an unexpected rain storm came through with the forecast called for 100% sunshine.

“We have to get great movement, we have to get great shots and we have to knock down some shots to be successful,” Jim Boeheim said. “These guys are doing everything they can to get there, but we have to play a lot better down the stretch than we did today to be able to win.”

Richmond’s Rut

Kadary Richmond’s emergence as a key player for the Orange has centered on his size, defensive skills and ability to drive the lane.

Richmond’s defensive instincts have led to him having one of the better steal rates in the ACC and in college basketball.

Saturday’s game showed there is more to the game than steals as Richmond struggled in the defensive rotations of the 2-3 zone.

Richmond finished with six points, three rebounds and one steal in 15 minutes of action.

“He was -11 when he was in the game, because he didn’t make his rotations.” Boeheim said. “They got two open 3s on his side. Little things that you need to do better.”

This, That and the Other Thing

Syracuse holds a 53-26 advantage in the all-time series versus Boston College. The Orange have won the past six meetings between the two schools.
Syracuse is 11-0 this season when it out-rebounds opponents. The Orange is 1-6 when it does not. Syracuse out-rebounded Boston College by a mark of 37-33.
Syracuse is 10-1 at the Carrier Dome this season.

Tweet of the Game

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Contact Brent Axe: Email | Twitter

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No Easy Days: Syracuse basketball defeats Boston College 75-67 (Brent Axe recap) - syracuse.com

The Sunny Side

The Dark Side

This, That and the Other Thing

Tweet of the Game

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