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Syracuse is desperate for a bounce-back game. After a complete defensive collapse against Virginia Tech and a close loss to Virginia, the Orange have struggled through their hardest stretch of conference play.

Now, SU has the chance to catch its breath against Boston College, who’s two spots below it in the Atlantic Coast Conference rankings. The Eagles are hot off a commanding win over ACC leader Clemson and they’ve won three out of their last four games.

Here’s everything to know about Boston College (11-12, 5-7 ACC) before the matchup:

All-time series

Syracuse leads 56-26.

KenPom Odds

Syracuse has a 59% chance of winning with a projected score of 70-67.

Last time they played

In the final hours of 2022, the same script from most of Syracuse’s games throughout the early season wrote itself again. The Orange fell behind early to a worse Eagles’ squad, but they came back and put the game away by the final 10 minutes of the second half.

BC exposed the issue Syracuse has had when Joe Girard III and Jesse Edwards aren’t clicking offensively. It takes a while for the Orange to get third or fourth options involved in the offense, which was the case at the end of December. It took exactly 10 minutes for SU to get its first lead of the game.

Benny Williams, who took a “personal day” during Syracuse’s last matchup, took advantage of BC’s defensive strategy, which was focused on Girard and Edwards. He didn’t hesitate to take open shots and even showed a presence on the boards which had been absent for the entire year. Boeheim said postgame that this was the version of Williams he had seen outside of the JMA Wireless Dome.

“Benny is the best player in practice. Every day, at the forward position,” Boeheim said. “He is our best forward and I’m going to stick with him,” Boeheim said.

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The Eagles report

The Eagles haven’t turned around their season since last seeing the Orange. BC dropped four-straight games before defeating Notre Dame and Louisville. All the defeats were substantial except for a one-point loss to Duke, who defeated it 65-64. But the Eagles just defeated Clemson, who’s currently at the top of the ACC rankings, 62-54.

Boston College could carry some of that defensive momentum into Saturday night as it will most likely work on double-teaming Girard again. Like the Orange, the Eagles struggle at guarding the deep ball, but only Girard and Justin Taylor will most likely take 3-pointers for SU, not giving it that much of an advantage in that regard.

The Eagles are much easier to stop offensively, averaging a 47.5% effective field-goal percentage, a mark that’s 301st nationally, according to KenPom. They shoot 29.4% from beyond the arc, which is 344th in the country.

How Syracuse beats Boston College

Yes, Boston College is terrible at shooting from 3-point range. But against the zone, which has been prone to leave wide, wide-open looks for shooters recently, Syracuse still needs to lock up defensively. At this point in the season, there’s not enough room for another defensive collapse, especially against a very beatable BC side.

Syracuse will need to focus again on Makai Ashton-Langford, who finished with a team-high 14 points against the Orange on New Year’s Eve. He’s scored more than 20 points in two out of BC’s last four matchups and could get hot at home.

This is a bounce-back game for Syracuse and one it should put away by the end of the first half. If it’s close through the final 10 minutes of the game, the Orange can’t turn the ball over or solely rely on Judah Mintz in those situations. He’s been antsy at times, making a multitude of mistakes with the ball. When it comes down to it, Syracuse will need Maliq Brown, Chris Bell or whoever else is slotted into the offense to step up.

Stat to know: 23.5

The Eagles only average 23.5 defensive rebounds per game, a mark that’s third-worst in the ACC. They let their opponents collect roughly 35 total rebounds per game, giving Syracuse a much-needed advantage on the glass. Williams took advantage of this at times in the last matchup but other players like Bell, who has struggled to rebound but said he’s working on it with the assistant coaches, have the opportunity to clean the glass. Second-chance opportunities will be plentiful on Saturday, it’s just up to SU to make the most of that.

Player to watch: Quinten Post, forward, No. 12

Post made his season debut against Syracuse, missing the beginning of the year due to a foot injury. The 7-footer didn’t do much in 17 minutes but has been on a tear recently, scoring 29 points against the Fighting Irish earlier this month. Edwards has been solid in the zone, but Virginia Tech exposed how easy it was to get passes down low in front of or behind Edwards. Post will be in the post, no pun intended, so Syracuse needs to mitigate those defensive issues to stop him.

Published on February 1, 2023 at 11:51 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu