Syracuse Drops First ACC game to Boston College 96-81

By Lauren Walsh CHESTNUT HILL, M.A. – The New Year has not been very kind to the Syracuse men’s basketball team, and it’s only day one. The Orange suffered a 96-81 loss to Boston College in its first ACC game of the season.

Syracuse’s 15-point loss to BC is the most points the Eagles have beaten the Orange by since 1993.

Head coach Jim Boeheim says SU’s shaky offensive production takes a back seat to the true issue of inadequate defense.

The Orange shot 38% from the field and 30% from behind the arc, whereas BC shot 57% and 62% in the respective areas.

“Our problem is our guards defensively,” said Boeheim. “They’re just not finding players. They’re not finding the shooters. They’re just not doing a good job. You can’t let people have open shots.”

The guard issue was evident in the 30 points and nine assists from BC’s Ky Bowman. Howard, Battle, White, nor Gillon could stop the freshman guard from his scoring tear.

“They hit a lot of threes against us,” said freshman guard Tyus Battle. “They shot a really high percentage and it’s tough to beat any team when they’re shooting that well from the three point line, so it’s on us tonight.”

Andrew White put up a team-high 22 points, but that performance was equalized by seven-or-less point efforts from Battle, Gillon, and Howard.

“I think everybody just has to do their job better,” said Andrew White III on the team’s sixth loss of the season. “I think everybody for the most part knows what they should be doing. We practice well, we prepare hard for this game, and I think everybody just needs to focus on what their job is.”

Syracuse out-rebounded Boston College 41-36. That element of defense was not lacking for the Orange, but guarding shooters and contesting shots were the main issues according to Boeheim.

“We just didn’t do a good job of finding where the shooters were and they made shots,” said Boeheim. “End of the story.”

Syracuse takes on Miami at home on Wednesday at 7:00 for a chance to notch its first conference win of the season.