With a pair of matchups looming over the next two weeks, Syracuse and Boston College appear to be headed in different directions.
The Orange (12-11, 6-6 ACC) have won three straight games for the first time this season. They hope to ride that momentum into Tuesday night’s game against the host Eagles (9-12, 4-7).
Syracuse won both meetings last season against Boston College, including a resounding 101-63 win in Massachusetts. That type of performance has resembled the Orange offense of late, as the team has scored 94, 89 and 92 points in their last three outings.
The Orange trounced Louisville on Saturday, 92-69, as Syracuse shot 55.2 percent from the floor and 52.2 percent from 3-point range. All five starters scored in double figures, led by Jesse Edwards and Buddy Boeheim with 19 points apiece.
“I just thought the improvement that we have made on offense and continue to make is really the key for the rest of the year,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We just gotta keep getting better there. I think our offense is in a good place, and we just gotta keep playing well on the defensive end.”
BC, meanwhile, has played three of its last four on the road, losing each of those away contests. Most recently, the team fell at Virginia 67-55 on Tuesday despite 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from center James Karnik.
The Eagles’ issues against the Cavaliers included 5-of-21 shooting from 3-point range and 14 turnovers.
“In a 57-posession game, to give away 14 turnovers is really hard,” Eagles coach Earl Grant said.
BC also committed 21 fouls that allowed Virginia to attempt 29 free throws.
“That’s life on the road,” Grant said. “We’ve got to be a little more disciplined defensively.”
Eagles leading scorer Makai Ashton-Langford (12.7 points a game) is averaging just 10.5 points over his last four games with 3-of-16, 1-of-7 and 2-of-8 shooting percentages in BC’s three defeats.
The Eagles and Orange will meet again Feb. 19 in Syracuse, N.Y.
–Field Level Media
