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Following a marquee road victory against Cal to cap its West Coast road trip, Syracuse returned to reality on Wednesday. Matching up against freshman phenom Cooper Flagg and No. 2 Duke, the Orange were decimated in all aspects.

SU suffered its largest loss of the season in an 83-54 blowout. The Orange never led in the game, shooting just 38% from the field and turning the ball over 14 times en route to their 10th-straight loss to the Blue Devils.

Now holding eight Atlantic Coast Conference losses with eight games left, Syracuse enters a favorable stretch with its next two opponents sitting behind it in the conference standings. First is a rematch with Boston College, which has lost seven of its last eight games.

Here’s everything to know about the Eagles (10-12, 2-9 Atlantic Coast) ahead of their matchup with Syracuse (10-13, 4-8 Atlantic Coast) Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome:

All time series

Syracuse leads 59-27.

Last time they played …

On Jan. 11, Syracuse found itself down eight with just under nine minutes to play. With their backs against the wall at Conte Forum, the Orange stormed back with an 8-0 run and 33-17 advantage across the final nine minutes, taking home a 79-71 victory.

Kyle Cuffe Jr. knocked down a few clutch 3s, but it was J.J. Starling’s stardom that led the way. He dropped a game-high 26 points, outdueling BC’s Donald Hand Jr. en route to the Orange’s first road win of the year.

KenPom Odds

Syracuse has a 76% chance of winning, with a projected score of 78-70.

The Eagles report

While Syracuse battles at the bottom of the conference for the final ACC Tournament spot, only a few teams sit below it. One of those squads is Boston College. The Eagles have tallied just two wins since the calendar flipped to 2025, winning on New Year’s Day before a month-long losing streak.

To start February, the Eagles sparked a remarkable comeback to top Florida State, coming back from a four-point deficit with just seven seconds to play. BC followed up the win with one of its worst losses of the year, a 26-point defeat to Louisville. It ranks bottom five in the ACC in points per game (70.5) and points allowed per game (75.7).

Hand continues to catalyze Boston College’s offense, leading a group with three players averaging 10 points or more. Center Chad Venning provides strength inside, wrestling back and forth with SU’s Eddie Lampkin Jr. in the first contest. Elijah Strong has also emerged as a secondary scorer, averaging 10.2 points per game. In BC’s win over FSU, it was Chas Kelley III who hit the game-winner, a deep 3 from the left wing. He’s given sparse minutes off the bench all season.

Defensively, BC is allowing opponents to shoot 36.7% from 3. The mark ranks 325th in the country, adding to a poor defense that struggles to force turnovers. The Eagles’ 2-9 start to conference play is for good reason. They struggle to score, play poor defense and have barely squeaked by teams when they have won.

How Syracuse beats BC

The Orange capture their fifth ACC victory and further secure their spot in the conference tournament by utilizing their rebounding strength. BC ranks 12th in the ACC in total rebounds per game, while SU is fourth. Even in Syracuse’s loss to Duke, it won the rebound battle 33-32.

The recent surge from Naheem McLeod and Petar Majstorovic also adds strength inside. The two combined for eight rebounds against the Blue Devils, while Lampkin added seven. Security on the glass will put SU in a strong position to sweep the Eagles.

Stat to know: 6.6%

It’s obvious to anyone who watches Syracuse its defense isn’t its best trait. The stats largely agree with this notion. According to KenPom, the Orange have just a 6.6% steal rate, ranking 354th of 364 Division I teams.

Illinois, Creighton and Butler are the only Big Five schools ranked below SU. While BC isn’t much better at 7.1, SU’s defense has been faulty all season, allowing the second-most points in the ACC 22 games in.

Player to watch: Donald Hand Jr., guard, No. 13

BC’s biggest threat in the first rendition of this matchup was unequivocally Hand. His 20 points, mixed with Venning’s strength down low, nearly willed the Eagles to a huge ACC victory. Since that performance, Hand’s been even more of an offensive spark.

He’s averaging 25.3 points across his last three games, dropping a career-high 31 points against Florida State on 6-of-11 shooting from 3. Hand’s averaging 31.6 minutes in his breakout year, building off his first two years in Chestnut Hill.

Published on February 7, 2025 at 10:29 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky