Men’s Basketball Final: Syracuse 101 - Boston College 63

To be honest, I do not really think a recap is necessary for this performance. The score line speaks for itself and it would take simply decades to hash out everything that the Eagles did wrong in this matchup. To put it in a succinct summary here are a few bullet points:

• They couldn’t penetrate Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. AT ALL. They were also ice cold from three all game and didn’t hit their first three in the second half until 4 minute mark by a walk-on.... a walk-on!
• BC did not play with ANY energy throughout this entire match. At no point when they were down did I see them play with any urgency like I have seen in games prior. Hard to get behind a team that does not feel like they want to be on the court.
• Defense on all fronts was flat out abysmal. Transition defense was non-existence, the paint never was clogged up leaving to easy Syracuse layups, and they allowed Cuse to toy with them with some Steph Curry range threes.

I really do not want to belabor the obvious points in where BC lapsed given its becoming the same old song and dance at this point. I am writing this with about 2 minutes left in the game but I’m sure the numbers wont fluctuate too much so here’s where things currently stand with the team as the clock begins to expire: 16 turnovers, 31% FG shooting, 6-28 from three (21%), and, once again, an abysmal day at the charity strip shooting 54.5%.... absolutely disgraceful.

Nonetheless, credit does have to be given to Boeheim’s squad as they clearly came ready to play and boy did they punch BC in the mouth. All 5 of Syracuse’s starters finished in double digits in scoring with Alan Griffin leading the Orange with a double-double (19 PTS | 10 REBs). They played to near-perfection on defense and capitalized on transition opportunities effectively. Overall, they made BC look like a high-school (dare I say, middle school) basketball team in their first game of conference play.

This was just plain old embarrassing. Having followed BC basketball for many years, I have become accustomed to seeing poor performances. Yet, this game really rubbed me the wrong way. It was a disgrace for the BC basketball program and if there is any reason to change the personnel on this team, this is the game to point to. I think I speak for all BC fans at this point in saying: “Enough is Enough.”

BC has a 10 day hiatus before taking on Cal on 12/22 with a scheduled 12 Noon tip-off.