Syracuse Men’s Basketball Rolls Past Boston University 99-77

By Ben Roth

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Some home cooking was just what the doctor ordered. The Orange (6-3, 0-0) returned home on Saturday and routed Boston University (4-6 0-0), 99-79. After shooting just 26 percent from the floor against Connecticut on Monday, SU rebounded with an offensive explosion and sunk 52 percent of its shots. The Orange added 14 three pointers, one shy of the most three’s in a single Syracuse game.

The bench played the role of hero, scoring 55 points altogether. John Gillon and Taurean Thompson led the way off the bench with 23 and 22 points, respectively. For Gillon, 23 points was his season-best while Thompson established a new career-high, shattering his previous best of 12.

With the Terriers on an 8-0 run to take a 20-12 lead with 12:51 to go in the first half, Jim Boeheim called a timeout to reset his squad. Gillon responded out of the timeout with a three to stop BU’s run. On the ensuing offensive possession, Gillon pulled down a rebound and hit Tyus Battle beyond the arc, who made a three of his own to cut the deficit to 20-18.

The graduate transfer finished the first half with 14 points while going 4-of-4 from downtown, as SU had a 45-39 lead and never looked back.

Following intermission, Freshman Taurean Thompson got into the scoring frenzy. The forward hit his first career triple to put the Orange up 50-44. SU went on a 15-5 run to start the second half with Thompson contributing nine of those 15 points. He tallied 10 points in the second half.

“I knew I wasn’t having great games before this one but today, I came out strong and I wanted to make an impact in every aspect of the game—offensively and defensively,” Thompson said.

It wasn’t all hunky dory for the Orange, however. Coach Jim Boeheim said the team has a lot of work to do on defense because “they couldn’t lead the local high school team in steals.” Boeheim explained it’s a work in progress to fit everybody together.

The Orange have a week off before longtime rival Georgetown invades the Dome on Saturday, December 17.