Syracuse (11-7, 1-4 Atlantic Coast) upended Boston College, 62-40, in the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night. The Eagles (7-9, 0-3) provided little resistance as the Orange coasted to its first conference win and avoided the first five-game losing streak in Jim Boeheim’s 40-year career.

Here’s what we learned from the game.

1. Syracuse is still committing too many turnovers

With just over eight minutes left in the first half, Tyler Lydon flashed to the left block and there wasn’t a Boston College defender anywhere near him. Malachi Richardson jumped up to throw a pass into Lydon, but it went away over the forward’s head and into the second row of seats behind the baseline.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim jumped in the air and put his head in his hands. It was one of Richardson’s five turnovers in the game, which tied a season-high that he set in the Orange’s opener against Lehigh and matched against Connecticut on Nov. 26. It was also one of Syracuse’s 14 total turnovers, which was the second-most since the start of ACC play.

“We can get out-rebounded and still win, but we have to shoot better and we can’t turn it over,” Boeheim said. “Not like we did tonight, unforced errors. We made two or three of those (turnovers) against North Carolina that were crucial. We don’t have enough margin to do that.”

Turnovers were a big problem for the Orange early in the season, but that had subsided in the last month or so. But it’s now committed 27 in its last two games, even if BC scored just eight points off turnovers and didn’t do much to capitalize on SU’s mistakes.

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MORE COVERAGE

• Syracuse snaps 4-game losing streak, crushes Boston College in 62-40 win
• Michael Gbinije returns to form with 14 points in Syracuse’s 62-40 win against Boston College
• Tyler Roberson’s solid performance against Boston College is cut short due to foul trouble

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2. Tyler Lydon belongs on the wing

With Dajuan Coleman playing 26 minutes against Boston College — one less than the season-high 27 that he played last game against UNC — Lydon is able to play on the wing.

That’s been a more natural spot for the lanky freshman this season, even if he’s had to fill in at center for long stretches as Coleman continues to knock off the rust of a 22-month absence. Lydon followed up a season-worst performance against the Tar Heels with seven points, five rebounds and a block on Wednesday.

He was also better off the ball on defense, which was likely a product of him getting more reps on the wing of the zone. BC wasn’t able to work the same high-low game the Tar Heels used to slice up the Orange in the second half on Saturday, and the result was just 14 points in the paint for the Eagles.

“It’s good because that’s his chance to get on the wing instead of playing the center spot,” Coleman said. “He gets his reps on the wing and gets used to that. We’re actually getting used to each other too. That’s good for both of us to be playing at the same time.”

 

 

3. Syracuse will get at least two conference wins this year, but there’s no guarantee after that

Two things were very clear on Wednesday night: There is a 99-percent chance Syracuse beats Boston College when it visits Chestnut Hill on Feb. 14, and it looks bleak that the Eagles will win another game this season.

The Orange out-rebounded BC 35-27, the visitors shot 6-of-26 from 3 and scored just eight points in the paint despite having 7-foot center Dennis Clifford. And Boston College’s deficiencies seemed to be the biggest factor in the SU win.

Syracuse’s four 3s was the lowest total of the season and its 14 turnovers, as mentioned above, was the second-most its committed since the start of conference play. The Orange’s next three games are road tests at Wake Forest, No. 9 Duke (bound to move down in the rankings after a loss to Clemson on Wednesday) and No. 13 Virginia (bound to move up in the rankings after a win over Miami on Tuesday).

The imperfect performance was more than enough to beat the Eagles, but Boeheim recognized that his team is far from where it needs to be moving forward.

“Every game you play in this league is tough,” Boeheim said. “We’re not playing well enough right now to get accomplished what we want to get accomplished. Hopefully we can do that and get better, right now we’re not.”

Published on January 13, 2016 at 11:00 pm