After its best win of the season, Boston College hopes to end 2022 on a high Saturday when it visits Syracuse as part of an Atlantic Coast Conference affair.
The Eagles (7-6, 1-1 ACC) have matched their season-high with back-to-back wins, most recently with a 70-65 overtime against No. 21 Virginia Tech on Dec. 21. They’ve had 1 1/2 weeks off since that win so it remains to be seen whether there will be any change against the Oranges (8-5, 1-1), who were on a five-game winning streak in their last away game.
Syracuse almost pulled off a stellar comeback against Pitt on December 20, coming back from 20 points behind in the second half and losing 84-82.
The game on Saturday presents itself as a duel between talented backcourts.
BC features guards Makai Ashton-Langford (11.5 points) and Jaeden Zackery (10.9) who are the only two double-digit scorers on the team.
Syracuse is also kept on pace by its starting guards Judah Mintz (15.6 points) and Joe Girard (15.2). Both combined for 40 points in the defeat by Pitt, but Orange manager Jim Boeheim was more concerned about his forwards’ play – and their lack of energy in particular.
“It’s tough when your team’s two forwards (Benny Williams and Chris Bell) just can’t be bothered,” Boeheim said. “I don’t know what their game is or what they think, but there’s no effort. If you don’t make an effort, you can’t play this game.”
Against the Panthers, Williams and Bell combined 3 of 12 shots from the ground for seven combined points. That effort likely won’t be good enough against an Eagles team that has kept Virginia Tech on 5 of 20 long-range shots and under 41 percent off-field shots overall.
Ashton-Langford led offensively with 21 points, including a big 3-pointer late in overtime.
“The manager always tells us to believe and we believe we can play with the best of them at the moment,” said Ashton-Langford. “That’s all you need. If you believe you can be successful, you will. So that was definitely a statement win for us.”
– Field level media
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