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BOSTON, Mass. — Jim Boeheim signaled for a timeout and regrouped his team for an all-too-familiar situation. The Orange were down by one, late, against an ACC opponent. The way the final eight minutes would turn out was unknown at the time. The only certainty was the play right after the break, a lob to Jesse Edwards.

Edwards said he did his best to “act normal” and Boston College’s defense reacted as predicted, leading to an easy hop for the alley-oop. He then pinned down a shot from Prince Aligbe, feet still on the floor, before Mintz located him again, hurling toward the basket.

Mintz then snuck behind Aligbe and poked the ball out, which led to Maliq Brown nailing both free throws at the line. He made another steal 45 seconds later, which resulted in an open look for Joe Girard III off an inbounds play which Boeheim said hadn’t worked all game. 

By the next break, the Orange were up seven, with hold over a back-and-forth game that seemed to slip through hands time and time again. They didn’t commit any bad turnovers late, miss any crucial rebounds or rely too heavily on their freshman star. Instead, Syracuse caused turnovers, Mintz delivered and Edwards wreaked havoc during a 12-2 run that sealed that game. 

“Our intensity was what really took us over the edge at the end,” Mintz said. 

Syracuse (14-10, 7-6 Atlantic Coast) defeated Boston College (11-13 5-8 ACC) 77-68, winning for the first time since it defeated Georgia Tech on Jan. 21. The crux of Syracuse’s season has been its ability to win close games. But on Saturday night, slated against a weaker ACC opponent, it pulled away near the end. After three-straight games decided by five or less points, Syracuse built a comfortable lead and sustained it on the road fueled by Jesse Edwards’ career-high 27 points.

Mintz said Edwards is one of the best one-on-one bigs in the conference, and Edwards was surprised that the Eagles didn’t try to double him for most of the game. He backed down Quentin Post a minute into the game, getting around him for an easy left-handed layup. Edwards went back to the same spot on the next SU possession, immediately turning his body and dropping in the hook shot. He was crucial in transition too, finishing off a lob from Joe Girard III a few minutes later. 

“When I get the chance to go one-on-one I try to take it as much as possible,” Edwards said. 

But the Eagles kept close with Edwards’ alley-oop only giving the Orange a 12-10 advantage. BC denied another lob attempt later in the first, but Edwards still found success one-on-one with Post, lofting in another hook shot with 11 minutes left in the half. 

BC kept close by attacking Syracuse’s zone like most other teams, settling for open 3-pointers from the wings and corners or locating a soft spot in the zone right in front of Edwards. It also started to get more aggressive, finding more emphatic answers to Syracuse’s lead. 

Boston College moved quickly after Mintz missed in transition. Aligbe collected the rebound, handing the ball to Jaeden Zackery before taking off. Zackery bounced the ball to himself before heaving it to Aligbe, who slammed it down. 

Three minutes later, Boston College slowed the pace down, but the possession ended with a similar result. Zackery delivered the same offering, this time from behind the 3-point line, and Edwards could only peer over his head to see Aligbe slam it again. 

Aligbe’s latter dunk tied the game at 26-26, and the Eagles eventually took the lead for the first time since the opening two minutes after Makhai Ashton-Langford nailed a second-chance 3-pointer. But Girard granted SU the lead again at the 3-point line, and Maliq Brown made two key offensive rebounds to help Syracuse sustain a 35-32 halftime lead. 

“(Brown’s) been really steady and doesn’t make any mistakes,” Boeheim said. 

The Eagles continued to attack the vacancies in the Orange’s zone in the second half, but like most of the night, the Orange responded. Out of a Syracuse timeout, Edwards located Torrence in the lane for a layup. Justin Taylor, who hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first half, ran to the right corner and caught an airborne pass from Brown. He tapped his foot onto the floor before elevating and drilling the deep shot. 

Edwards went back to his favorite spot, one-on-one with Post on the right side, too, before Taylor drained another 3. 

“I react to the defense,” Edwards said. “When I know that I spun on the last one, I’ll try to fake spin it and work off it.”

Back up by seven, it seemed like BC was out of comeback attempts. But like Syracuse, found quick success after calling a timeout, immediately locating Post wide-open from the right wing. The Eagles scored twice more from behind the arc, with Ashton-Langford comfortably walking into his make from the left wing. 

“We guarded the 3-point line pretty well but they made some there that gave them a chance to win,” Boeheim said. 

BC continued to build its run as Chas Kelley III forced Mintz to jump out after hesitating to pass, instead driving inside. Kelley had Edwards right in front of him, but he rose up and wrapped his arm around him, getting the ball to in off the glass. Syracuse moved fast the other way, but Torrence had the ball stripped from his grasp by Ashton-Langford, who immediately took off the other way.

Edwards was in position again, going straight into the air as Ashton-Langford directed his motion to the right side of the basket. Edwards got a few fingertips on the ball, but it wasn’t enough to stop it from falling through the net. 

The ebbs and flows continued through the final few minutes of the night, though Syracuse’s play between the Under-8 and Under-4 timeouts built a comfortable lead. Still, out of the latter timeout, the Orange went back to their main option. 

Boeheim draws up plays out of every timeout, but he joked postgame that “sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.” The Orange struck gold twice already on plays out of timeout, and though their win was mostly solidified, Boeheim drew something up for Edwards again.   

Edwards screened for Mintz, bringing his defender with him, before he rolled and pointed up to the air. Mintz knew that Edwards was signaling for the ball to be delivered right there, which it was, leading to a quick dunk to put the Orange up by nine. 

“Late in the game, obviously we get used to what they’re running and it’s easier to figure it out,” Mintz said. 

Published on February 4, 2023 at 7:19 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu