SYRACUSE, N.Y.- After surrendering a 19-point lead, the Syracuse Orange (11-4, 2-2 ACC) held on for the 69-59 victory over Boston College (10-5, 1-3 ACC) Wednesday night to remain perfect inside the JMA Wireless Dome this season.
The Orange had a full week to prepare because of an early bye week in the conference schedule for an Eagles squad that entered winning five of its last six contests. Cuse had a different look in the starting rotation with Naheem McLeod out indefinitely with a right foot injury and star Judah Mintz coming off the bench due to a team rule infraction. Reserves Maliq Brown and Quadir Copeland earned their first starts of the season following key roles during the last month for SU.
Head Coach Red Autry was weary that his group would come out rusty but saw his team jump out to an 8-0 lead instead. Forward Chris Bell opened the scoring with a three-pointer from the right wing that provided a sigh of relief during a cold shooting stretch. The sophomore played with confidence all night long dropping a game-high 20 points, his first point total in double figures since December 5 against Cornell.
“Man, I feel like every time I see the first one go in it’s a big relief for me because I need to see fall to feel a lot better. I feel like when I’m hitting shots, it kind of opens up my offense and it makes us a little bit more spaced out because the defense has to stay on me in the corner. Whether it’s Judah, JJ, Quadir, or Maliq, they thrive,” Bell said.
Syracuse continued to make buckets while hindering Boston College with textbook defense on the other end. Bell’s second fastbreak tomahawk slam capped off an 11-0 run with 3:54 remaining before halftime to expand the lead to 19. BC capped off a dreadful shooting half with eight consecutive to make it a double-digit deficit. The Eagles went 9-31 (29%) from the floor and 4-17 (23.5%) from three with 13 turnovers that turned into 16 Cuse points in the first. SU had a season-high 17 steals with 12 of the takeaways occurring during that stretch.
“BC got going a little bit late, but I thought overall defensively holding the 22 points in the first half is one of our best showings so far this season. We got off to a good start offensively, and the key was making it difficult for Quinten Post down low,” Autry said.
Boston College’s versatile center Quinten Post came into the night averaging over 18 points but was visibly frustrated as the second half began being held scoreless against Cuse. Even at a severe height disadvantage, Brown took the matchup against one of the top big men in the ACC and made sure he was a non-factor.
“Throughout the week during this break, we knew that Boston College was going to be a good team and how well [Quinten] Post has played for them. I just wanted to take that matchup personally and try to deny it and keep the ball away from him as much as I could,” Brown said.
Post finished the night with zero points, the only game this season not in double figures, and seven turnovers before fouling out in the final two minutes. Even without their go-to scoring option, Boston College continued to chip away in the second as Cuse went on a scoring drought for nearly five minutes. A Prince Aligbe layup gave BC their first lead, 50-49, with 7:27 remaining. Coach Autry called a timeout, and Syracuse came out of that stoppage with a three from Bell that got the crowd re-engaged due to the much-needed bucket.
“I thought they showed a tremendous amount of poise to come into that timeout after losing the lead and just kind of staying with it. This team has been battle-tested. We’ve been in games all year that have been tight. I was proud of how they composed themselves, and after struggling to score we put together four or five really good offensive possessions,” Autry said.
Down the stretch as teams exchanged buckets, Brown was the main scorer for Cuse getting into the paint for two-hand flushes or attempts at the line. The sophomore scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, filling the stat sheet with eight rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and four steals. Brown has now netted 88 points over his last five games (17.6 ppg) compared to averaging 6.7 in the previous ten matchups.
“My teammates like Judah and Quadir were finding me in my little spots. [Boston College] was coming back so just knowing that we needed to get some stops and put more points on the board,” Brown said.
“Obviously he was great on defense, but I thought Maliq was really good offensively. I thought he rose to set screens, made the right pass, and finished around the room. I keep saying to people his offensive game is starting to come around, but his free-throws late to go 7-8 at the line were huge,” Autry said.
Mintz also connected on some late free throws for a 10-point performance in 30 minutes off the bench. Coach Autry did confirm postgame that Mintz is expected to return to the starting lineup next game.
With their 11th straight dub over BC, Syracuse moves to 58-26 all-time against their former Big East foe. Now back to .500 in conference play, the Orange travel back to North Carolina to play their fourth-ranked program on the campaign against No. 7 UNC (12-3, 4-0). The Tar Heels are fresh off a road win against rival NC State and now host Syracuse on Saturday afternoon with tip-off slated for noon.