It was a slow start to the game for the Syracuse Orange, only scoring six points in the first nine minutes, but the Orange ended up scoring 76 points tonight, defeating the Boston College Eagles 76-50.
While the offense was off to a slow start, the defense was not. The Eagles could only muster 13 total points in the first half. The Orange defense has shined several times this season, but the key factor is actually scoring points, which has not been a problem the last nine games. Syracuse has scored more than 70 points the last nine games.
Syracuse’s leading scorer, Elijah Hughes, had a scare in tonight’s first half. After an offensive rebound, Elijah was driving to the basket but collided with Boston College’s Jairus Hamilton, then landed hard on his knee. Hughes ended up returning to the game later in the first half and was still able to score 19 points, just barely below his 19.5 average for the season.
The highest scorer for the Orange was Buddy Boeheim with 22 points, his fifth 20-point game of the season. Buddy went 4-7 from three. The team as a whole shot well from three, shooting at 44% beyond the arc.
Syracuse’s staple this season has been live, or die by the three. Fortunately for the Orange they lived by the three tonight and added to their resume with a conference win. After the upset against Virginia last game, the Orange are now on a two-game winning streak as they enter the heart of conference play.
The Orange are now at .500 on the season in conference play (3-3) and 10-7 on the season as a whole. Their next game will be against Virginia Tech on Saturday on the road. Virginia Tech is 13-4 on the season and only one game back of first place of the ACC. Tip off is at noon on Saturday, be sure to tune into WAER at 88.3 FM or waer.org for our broadcast.