Finally, Taurean Thompson showed signs of life on the defensive end, opening the game by intercepting a pass intended for the paint, handing it off to John Gillon and running the floor before laying in a bounce pass from Gillon at the other end.

Earlier this year head coach Jim Boeheim once said Syracuse “wouldn’t lead the local high school league in steals,” but the Orange has flipped that early season notion on its head with showings like Saturday’s.

By halftime, SU had already forced 15 turnovers and turned them into 14 points, bigger than Syracuse’s plus margin of 13 after the first 20 minutes. By game’s end, the Orange had only turned the ball over six times to Boston College’s 20 in SU’s (11-7, 3-2 Atlantic Coast) 76-53 win over the Eagles (9-9, 2-3) in the Carrier Dome, with 20 points off turnovers to show for it.

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MORE COVERAGE

• Tyus Battle scores career-high 21 points in Syracuse’s 76-53 win over Boston College
• Syracuse holds Boston College’s Ky Bowman to 3 points in 76-53 win
• What we learned from Syracuse’s 76-53 win over Boston College
• The Final Word: Beat writers discuss Syracuse’s 76-53 victory 

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“We were trapping in the corner like we’re supposed to do and it allowed us to get in the passing lanes,” Gillon said, “We all were just clicking.”

Twenty turnovers tied the most for a Syracuse opponent in a game this season, matching only Eastern Michigan for most giveaways against the Orange. The Orange also recorded the third-most steals in a game this season with 11, after a four-game stretch in which Syracuse never surpassed eight steals in a game.

The Orange did a noticeably better job of defending the corners Saturday, and it led to easy takeaways, like when Tyus Battle cut off a bounce pass to AJ Turner in the corner to jumpstart the offense the other way. Other times, it was easier to earn the ball back, like when Turner corralled a rebound and simply came down on the end line before slamming his palms on the court in frustration.

All areas of the zone were more active the second time around against the Eagles, and the Orange reaped the benefits. Even more beneficial for the hosts was their ability to finish in transition, something that hasn’t always been a strong suit. Battle, Thompson and Gillon all finished at the rim on the break, and it helped Syracuse make sure that a win was never in doubt 13 days after it was almost the opposite.

“It was strictly just the defensive effort,” Boeheim said. “When we play defense like that, in (games against) Miami and Pittsburgh, we did it a little bit on the road, we had some good defensive efforts against Connecticut and South Carolina for a lot of the game…I think our defense is getting a little better.”

The problem for Syracuse has been that sometimes its defense plays at a superb level, a la Saturday, and sometimes it vanishes into thin air. The two-game stretch earlier this month against the Hurricanes and Panthers is the only time SU has strung together formidable defensive outings for a full 40 minutes each time against respectable opponents.

“We definitely picked up our intensity on defense,” Battle said. “… So if we play like this every night we’re gonna be tough to handle.”

It’ll have the chance to do so against one of the best offensive teams in the country on Monday, when the Orange ventures down to North Carolina to face a team that just slapped 96 points on Florida State, a team that was then still undefeated in league play and coming off a comfortable win against Duke.

This next stint will be the toughest test for Syracuse’s Jekyll-and-Hyde defense, with a chance to officially re-introduce itself as one of college basketball’s best or fall back into the abyss it has already lingered in this season.

Published on January 14, 2017 at 8:11 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman