After a disappointing trip to Durham, Syracuse men’s basketball (10-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) returns to the familiar confines of the JMA Wireless Dome aiming to bounce back against Boston College (10-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) on Wednesday.
If there’s one ACC squad that the Orange have beat up on in recent history, it’s the Eagles. In the past five seasons, SU has earned ten straight victories against its northeast rival by an average margin of 14.6 points.
Despite those successes, the ‘Cuse won’t be marking down this matchup as an easy win. Boston College put on a strong non-conference performance this season that was highlighted in an 86-80 Quad I victory over St. John’s. In early ACC play, BC has played its opponents tough down to the wire. The Eagles narrowly lost their first two conference games by six points each, before pulling off a 95-87 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Orange are coming off one of their shakiest defensive performances under Coach Autry’s tenure. Syracuse allowed a season-high 86 points in its loss to Duke. SU’s head man identified a major factor that derailed his squad.
“It comes down to turnovers and I think we’ve got to do a better job taking care of the ball,” Autry said.
Duke took advantage of sloppy ball control and scored 26 points from Syracuse’s 17 turnovers. SU won’t be able to get away with those mistakes against BC either. The Eagles have converted at least 19 points off of turnovers in 6 games this season.
One ‘Cuse player who has had no problem taking care of the ball is forward Maliq Brown. The sophomore is often known for his stellar defense, but in recent contests, he’s excelled on both ends of the court. Over the last four games, Brown averaged over 17 points and just 1 turnover.
“He’s kind of just starting to understand how good he can be,” Autry said after Brown’s 26-point performance on Tuesday. “He can do a lot of things for us so we just got to surround him and help him.”
The Virginia native will likely have a large role in Syracuse’s attempt to contain Boston College forward Quinten Post. The seven-foot Dutchman leads BC in average points (18.4), rebounds (8.1) and blocks (2.2) this season.
“He’s confident, he’s comfortable and he’s a skilled player,” Eagles head coach Earl Grant said about Post. “There’s a lot of things he has in his toolbox.”
The ACC’s most improved player of last year has four games of experience against the ‘Cuse. When BC last faced SU just under a year ago, Post recorded 18 points, 5 boards and 4 assists in a 77-68 victory for the Orange.
The other Boston College forward that Syracuse will have to look out for is Devin McGlockton. The sophomore averages the second most rebounds (6.1) and has the highest field goal percentage (59.8%) on the team. McGlockton is coming off a spectacular performance in Atlanta on Saturday. The Georgia native scored a career-high 30 points and nailed 3 of his 4 attempts from beyond the arc.
BC is searching for its first win in the 3-1-5 since 2014, but the Dome hasn’t gotten any friendlier to away teams this season. SU has the second-highest average attendance in the ACC (19,352) and ‘Cuse fans haven’t been leaving disappointed. Through seven games, SU has yet to lose at home.
The Orange aim to continue that home dominance and shut down the Eagles at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. WAER’s coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff.