CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Syracuse (18-12, 7-10 Atlantic Coast) lost its third-straight game, this time to Boston College (17-13, 7-10), 85-70, at Conte Forum on Wednesday night. The Eagles held the lead for nearly the entire night. The Orange made a run late in the first half to cut a double-digit deficit to three entering the break. But BC pulled away in the second half for a comfortable victory.

Syracuse’s season seemed on the upswing after upsetting Miami at home a week and a half ago. Now, after this loss, Syracuse’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament are down to 17 percent, per ESPN’s BPI.

Here are reactions from the game.

Where’s the help?

Last time these two teams matched up, Syracuse exploded for 81 points. It was a balanced attack that day for the Orange, as all five players scored in double figures.

The first half for Syracuse on Wednesday was completely different. While SU trailed by three at the half and scored 37 points in the frame, only three players — Tyus Battle, Frank Howard and Oshae Brissett — scored for the team. Battle led the way with 20 points in the half.

Despite the high scoring output, Syracuse often found itself in predictable sets in the half court game, while the big three faced consistent double teams. The Orange’s best offense came off turnovers — SU got nine points off turnovers in the first half — and in semi-transition opportunities.

By the end of the game, only six points — four from Paschal Chukwu and two from Matthew Moyer — were scored by someone other than a member of SU’s big three. Battle, Brissett and Howard also combined to take 46 of the Orange’s 50 shot attempts.

Boston three party

Coming into the game, Boston College ranked sixth in the ACC in 3-pointers made but only 11th in 3-point percentage. The Eagles did have three players — Ky Bowman, Jerome Robinson and Jordan Chatman — who averaged more than two 3-pointers made per game.

BC took a lot of 3s against the Orange, like it always does. On Wednesday it made a lot of them, too. The Eagles finished 14-of-27 from deep, with the three aforementioned sharpshooters going a combined 13-for-26. In two games this season, the Eagles have shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from behind the arc against SU.

Many of the looks came off picture-perfect zone breakdown, as the Eagles had no issue feeding the posts and then kicking it out to an open shooter as the Orange failed to rotate.

Press on

Syracuse has shown that it will frequently turn to the press to try and speed the game up when it’s down late. Against UNC one week ago, the Orange used it to rally and tie the game with two minutes to go.

The press didn’t necessarily work in that game, as the Tar Heels consistently got the ball past half court quickly. But they’d charge straight at Paschal Chukwu under the bucket and force up wild shots in the process, allowing SU to get the ball back quickly.

Down by 12 with seven minutes left, the Orange once again turned to the press. And much like North Carolina, Boston College consistently got the ball down the court. Every time the Eagles players would step inside the 3-point line, though, they’d turn around and dribble the ball back up. This allowed the Eagles to set up its halfcourt offense — which was torching Syracuse all night to begin with — and slowly take some time off the clock.

Published on February 28, 2018 at 11:16 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer