Sloppy play throughout shines late and costs Syracuse in must-win game against Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, M.A. — On Saturday afternoon, Syracuse fans dominated the Conte Forum, but the team itself did not. Miscues cost the Orange throughout the entire game, and stood out in the final minutes, as Syracuse drops a season-altering game, losing 81-73 in overtime to a Boston College Eagles team that was winless in conference play to date.

“You can’t win and beat anybody with 18 turnovers, and I thought that was the difference,” said coach Adrian Autry following the loss.

But early on, the Orange played clean.

Right out of the gate, senior forward William Kyle III scored two early buckets, and after a Donnie Freeman and-1 layup with 12:42 to go, Syracuse had quickly surged to a 15-6 lead. At that moment with the energy from the Orange fans and the deflated look of the BC offense, it appeared like it might be another game in which the Eagles rolled over against an ACC opponent.

However, in the middle of the first half, neither team could put the ball in the basket, and it turned into a foul-fest for both squads. The Eagles were not shooting it well, but were getting to the line, and Boston College slowly trimmed into the deficit and eventually surpassed the Orange 24-23 on an alley-oop dunk from senior forward Aidan Shaw with just under four minutes to play.

But that one-point lead was the only one the Eagles would get in the first 20 minutes, as the Orange would end the half strong, capped off by a buzzer-beating layup from Freeman to give Syracuse a 33-28 lead at the break.

In the second half, the game of back-and-forth runs continued. Redshirt senior guard Nate Kingz drilled a three with 16 minutes to go, and once again it looked like this would be where Syracuse generated some real separation.

But the Eagles responded right back, a 12-2 run headlined by two threes from guard Fred Payne, who scored a career-high 26 points, and all of a sudden you blinked and Boston College was up 47-44.

However, Kingz was unfazed. Two more makes from behind the arc helped Syracuse jump back in front, as the see-saw game continued.

All square at 55 with just under five to play, it was more Kingz. He converts on an and-1 and Syracuse would finally take a lead that they would hold until the final seconds of regulation.

BC had stayed in the game and kept it close enough. And then the floodgates opened. Sloppy turnovers from guard Naithan George in the final minute, who finished with seven turnovers, and a front-end miss on a 1-and-1 free throw by Freeman, who also had seven turnovers, allowed Eagles guard Donald Hand Jr. to drill the game-tying three with seven seconds left, forcing overtime.

“I am trying my hardest not to turn the ball over, but when you put it in your head, it actually starts to become a thing, so I need to start playing with my mind free,” said George after the game.

In overtime, it was all Boston College. The Eagles would never trail again and would make nine out of their 10 attempted free throws in the overtime period. Syracuse looked flat and defeated, and the results showed.

“In the Hofstra game, we overlooked our opponent. But today, we saw Boston College like they were any other team, but the outcome was not what we wanted,” said Kingz, who finished with a career-high 27 points.

But for coach Autry, this is just another roadblock in a season that still has a lot of games left.

“Talent isn’t enough, and sometimes you don’t learn when you are winning, but we have to wake up defensively, and I’m confident that if we do that, we will be fine,” said Autry.