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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Last week’s 87-52 beatdown of Rider led Syracuse to ponder whether it’s a special 3-point shooting group. The Orange tied the program record that game with 15 made 3s on 50%. 

“As of right now, it looks it,” point guard Joe Girard III said after that win. “It seems like this team is really deep at shooting the ball … We’ve just got so many guys that can shoot it, and it makes it fun to watch, really fun to play.”

But that was Rider. It was far too early to make a conclusion about which year’s team is better from beyond the arc, head coach Jim Boeheim said. Syracuse shot 27% from deep in a loss to No. 21 Rutgers. Girard entered the BC game shooting a paltry 26% from the floor and 30% from deep. 

SU reverted back to its deadeye shooting against Boston College in Conte Forum on Saturday, though Boeheim reiterated his “wait and see” cautioning postgame. The return of Buddy Boeheim, who quarantined after a walk-on tested positive for COVID-19, certainly helped, as did BC’s scrambling defensive scheme. After struggling in SU’s first five games, Girard caught fire, going 5-for-7 from 3 for a 17 points. Buddy (17 points) and Alan Griffin (19 points) led Syracuse to break the single-game record for 3s made in a game in a dominant offensive display.

“When you make shots, the game’s easy,” Boeheim said.

With the 101-63 win over Boston College (1-5, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) — the Orange’s most lopsided ACC victory since it joined the conference in 2013 — Syracuse (4-1, 1-0) opens ACC play on a strong point. SU hasn’t won more than 10 conference games since the 2013-14 season, but Saturday’s win puts SU in the right direction. The Orange shot 51.6% from 3, making their mark 36.8% on the season so far. 

Boston College started in a man-to-man defense and switched every screen. They often fell into miscommunications and allowed Quincy Guerrier to slip down the lane unimpeded multiple times in the first half, leading to easy buckets either at the rim or on kickouts. 

Buddy, who used his family’s in-home court during his isolation, began the game by hitting two quick 3-pointers and picking off a pass at the top of the 2-3 zone. Buddy said he worked out three to four hours per day. But his dad said he was “shocked” to see the first two shots go down, since Buddy struggled in the last two practices and missed 28 days of practice prior.

“When you have an offensive threat, it opens everything up for everybody,” Girard said of Buddy. “He can shoot it, he can (go) inside, he has a lot of things he can do that defenses have to focus on. It’s big that he’s back, obviously he’s a great player.”

Girard also added an early 3 off a Guerrier offensive rebound, forcing BC head coach Jim Christian to call timeout with his team down 13-5 less than five minutes in. 

Marek Dolezaj finished with 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Courtesy of ACC

Against BC’s oft-disoriented defense, Syracuse placed forward Marek Dolezaj at the high post and ran shooters around him for handoffs. Defenders pressed Buddy and Girard on the perimeter, and when the Eagles overplayed the weak side, Dolezaj made them pay. 

“You have to remember, when they’re playing him that tight and they’re switching and helping, that’s how we got all those layups,” Boeheim said.

Dolezaj’s dimes created the most efficient looks in basketball: open 3s and layups. He found Guerrier on a backdoor cut for a lay-in, freshman Woody Newton for a dunk and Griffin for two corner 3s. By halftime, Dolezaj dished six assists, fueling SU’s inside-out attack that had the Orange up 48-30. 

As a team, SU wasn’t hunting 3s. Ill-advised looks in transition from past games, particularly from Griffin and Girard, were rare on Saturday afternoon. Instead, SU shared the ball and took open 3s, which opened up drives to the lane. Boeheim said it was the best SU’s moved the ball this season. Less than two minutes into the second half, Buddy faked a 3 and drove in for a bucket inside, capping a 6-0 spurt that led Christian to take another timeout. 

A big part of that was Girard, who nailed five of his first six 3s. He played by far his most complete game of 2020 and looked fast on both ends, chipping in five assists and five defensive rebounds. 

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Syracuse’s lead ballooned to 36, as the Eagles scored only five points in the first eight minutes of the second half. They botched an out-of-timeout alley-oop play, then coughed up a 2-on-1 break. 

The 3s continued to rain against a BC defense that previously held its opponents to 29.9% from deep last season. Two Griffin spot-up hits sandwiched a deep Girard triple from the right wing. Buddy, who passed his dad on Syracuse’s all-time scoring list, hit another 3-pointer in transition to put Syracuse up 40. Griffin’s 3 tied the single-game program record of 15 for the second time this year. A Kadary Richmond make broke it in garbage time. 

The single-season record for 3-point shooting by a team is 50.8%, set in 1987 by Indiana. SU’s 36.8% mark likely won’t reach Indiana’s, but SU has already attempted more than half the threes in five games (144) that the record-breaking Hoosiers did that whole season (256).

“We got a lot of open looks,” Boeheim said. “That’s not going to happen all the time. But we’ll take it when it happens. We’ve got guys that can shoot.” 

One game with Syracuse hitting half its 3s could’ve been an anomaly. But two starts to become a pattern. If the Girard that showed up Saturday is who Syracuse is going to get for the rest of the year, more 50% performances could be in the cards.

Published on December 12, 2020 at 3:16 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman