SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) Tyus Battle scored 21 points, including 15 in the second half, Buddy Boeheim hit for a career-high 16 and Syracuse withstood a late Boston College rally to defeat the Eagles 67-56 Saturday.
Oshae Brissett chipped in with 12 for Syracuse (17-7, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which rebounded from an 18-point home loss Tuesday against No. 22 Florida State. Attendance was announced as 26,011 – the largest in Division I this season.
Ky Bowman, who sat the first 5:03 of the game due to a violation of team rules, led the Eagles (11-11, 2-8) with 21 points.
Syracuse held the Eagles to 33 percent shooting from the field, including 7 of 23 from 3. The Orange blocked six shots and scored 25 points off 18 BC turnovers.
The Orange shot 42 percent from the field, including 7 of 18 from 3. Boeheim was 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
The Orange built a 60-40 lead with 8:15 to go on a third-straight bucket by Battle, but the Eagles scored the next 14 points to close to 60-54 on a 3 by Bowman with 3:53 to go. Syracuse closed the game on seven foul shots for their final margin. The Eagles had just one field goal after Bowman’s 3 – a jumper by Chris Herren.
It was an offensively challenged first half for both teams. BC’s first half total of 24 was their lowest of the season. The team’s previous low was 25. BC missed their first 11 shots and didn’t hit their first field goal until Bowman’s jumper at 13:48. BC was just 8 of 26 from the floor and 1 of 9 from 3. The Orange wasn’t much better, hitting 11 of 29 for 38 percent. BC turned the ball over eight times.
Three foul shots by Jordan Chatman gave BC a 17-16 lead with 7:22 to go but the Orange closed the half on a 15-7 run to take a 31-24 halftime lead. Boeheim scored 11 of those points on three from beyond the arc and two foul shots.
Boeheim led Syracuse with 11. Battle chipped in with six. Syracuse’s three leading scorers – Battle, Oshae Brissett and Elijah Hughes – were a combined 6-of-16.
Nik Popovic topped the Eagles with eight points. Bowman had seven.
BIG PICTURE:
BC: The Eagles are playing out the string although consecutive home games against Pitt and Miami give the Eagles some short-term hope. BC desperately misses guard Wynston Tabbs, who missed his fifth straight game.
Syracuse: Saturday’s win was huge as the Orange hit the road for a tough matchup against North Carolina. Four of the team’s final seven games are against ranked teams. Somehow, the Orange need to get to 20 wins for a reasonable shot at an NCAA Tournament bid.
UP NEXT:
BC hosts Pitt on Tuesday.
The Orange have a tough road matchup Wednesday against North Carolina State.
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