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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The rebound from Jimmy Boeheim’s missed layup bounced off the right side of the rim and onto the floor, careening toward the corner. And from the perimeter, Symir Torrence charged at the ball, dove onto the court and secured the offensive rebound with 2:30 remaining and Syracuse up by seven.

It allowed the Orange to reset the offense and drain more time off the clock, and eventually, Joe Girard III connected on a 3 from the corner to give Syracuse a 65-55 lead. That prevented any final comeback attempt from Boston College, allowing the Orange to pick up a 73-64 victory over the Eagles for their fourth consecutive win. Cole Swider led the Orange with 21 points, while Girard added 19 and connected on 3-of-5 shots from beyond the arc.

Here are some observations from the Orange’s win at Conte Forum.

Slow start, for both teams

It took nearly three minutes for either team to score a point, and by the time the Under-16 timeout arrived, Syracuse and Boston College combined to shoot 2-for-14 from the field. Girard, who hit a jumper from the free-throw line to open the scoring, had two points. So did Buddy. T.J. Bickerstaff made one of his two free throws. And for the first 5:05, that was all the scoring either team could manage.

Both defenses also forced rushed attempts late in the shot clock, with Boston College and the Orange taking their first shot with three seconds or fewer remaining in the possession. Quinten Post knocked Jesse Edwards around inside too, deflecting a couple of shots away from their target — even if it was just the matter of inches needed to force a miss instead of a make — and kept an SU offense averaging 91.7 points per game in its last three games to just a 32-point pace for a brief period.

Anselem’s season-high for minutes

Edwards had gone five consecutive games without fouling out, but in the first half, when he picked up his second personal foul with 9:45 remaining in the frame, his recurring foul trouble quickly returned. He’d checked back in for Frank Anselem just 20 seconds prior, but when he was called for an over-the-back foul while contesting an offensive rebound, Anselem jogged right back to the scorer’s table and checked in again.

And when that foul trouble extended over into the second half, it resulted in Anselem logging a career-high 23 minutes. He flashed SU’s bench potential at times — potential, and production, that head coach Jim Boeheim had tried to will into existence all year, as recent as the Orange’s previous win against Louisville when he pleaded with them to do “something” — but also drew a turnover after grabbing an offensive rebound and committed three fouls.

Anselem added a dunk in the second half, as well as a critical block after allowing an offensive rebound to spark a transition possession that ended with a Swider 3-pointer. But after Edwards committed his fifth foul with 2:53 left, fouling out as Boston College converted an and-1 in transition, Boeheim went with a small lineup instead and sent Torrence to the scorer’s table.

BC’s offensive rebounding

After Swider hit his second 3-pointer in a row, turning and staring at BC’s bench for a brief second before strolling back down the court, Post helped the Eagles manufacture a response at the other end: He grabbed an offensive rebound, swam around Anselem and finished through contact for one of BC’s 14 offensive rebounds.

The Eagles entered the game ranked 88th in the country for their offensive rebounding percentage, according to KenPom, and continually found second-chance opportunities against the Orange in the paint. They only finished with seven second-chance points, but converted 40 points in the paint. Post led Boston College with seven offensive rebounds, including one where he batted the ball out of Anselem’s hands in the second half and finished for a second-chance basket.

Streaks snapped

Syracuse entered the Boston College game with 18 or more assists in each of its last three games but only finished with nine against the Eagles, snapping the streak.

The Orange had also shot 50% or better from the field in three consecutive games, all of its wins on the current winning streak, for the first time since between Feb. 1-7, 2017 — games against NC State, Virginia and Clemson. That streak also ended against the Eagles, as they only connected on 39% of their shots.

Published on February 8, 2022 at 10:13 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew