Boston College Men’s Basketball Falls to Syracuse 77-71

BC men’s basketball did not have quite enough tonight, and dropped to 11-8 on the season in a 77-71 loss to the Syracuse Orange. The Syracuse zone took away the inside game of Nik Popvic and Johncarlos Reyes for the most part, forcing BC to rely on outside shooting and transition drives. When the outside shot wasn’t there, the Orange were able to wind down the clock on BC and force low percentage shots (and three first half shot clock violations). When the Eagles were able to force turnovers and get defensive rebounds, it openied up transition drives that got the Orange into foul trouble in the first half. The Eagle defense was fairly effective Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett drives in the first half, but the Orange effectively countered by dishing it out to several hot three-point shooters. Chatman and Bowman were not able to match Syracuse’s seven first half threes, an the Orange pushed the lead to 7 at the half.

After two quick buckets that pushed the Syracuse lead to 11 to open the second half, the Eagles were able to find some success driving into the paint and dishing it out to the perimeter. Back-to-back Chatman threes cut the lead in half. While Tyus Battle turned up the heat, Ky Bowman responded with some aggressive transition drives that racked up six Orange fouls by the 11-minute mark. A huge Jared Hamilton dunk brought the Eagles within 2 and had them threatening to take the lead back, but Tyus Battle went off for a pair of threes that swung the momentum back for the Syracuse. Battle would end the night with a game high 31. Jared Hamilton played his best game of the season so far, showing some explosiveness on his drives on his way to a season high 12 points.

Ky Bowman took over with the Eagles down 10 in the last three minutes, but it wasn’t enough. The Orange closed out with timely offensive rebounding and foul shooting. This loss breaks a two game win streak for the Eagles, who fall to 11-8 overall and 2-5 in the ACC. The Eagles are back in Conte Forum at 2PM on Saturday afternoon and they will be looking revenge against the Fighting Irish.