Syracuse and Boston College square off for the second time in 12 days when they reconvene Saturday afternoon for an Atlantic Coast Conference game on the Orange’s home court.
In the first matchup on Feb. 8 in Chestnutt Hill, Mass., Syracuse posted a 73-64 victory as Cole Swider matched his season high with 21 points and Joe Girard III contributed 19. However, it was a costly win for the Orange, as center Jesse Edwards sustained a season-ending wrist injury.
Frank Anselem replaced Edwards in the Syracuse starting lineup against Virginia Tech last Saturday and delivered six points, 15 rebounds and two blocks, but they still came up short, 71-59.
“He’s not going to score a lot, but he sets good screens,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said of Anselem, who was making his first career start. “He moves without the ball. And his defense was good, and he rebounded the ball. That’s what he has to do, and he did a tremendous job there.”
Buddy Boeheim scored 21 points to lead the Orange (13-12, 7-7 ACC), but Syracuse attempted only four free throws against the Hokies (making one).
They have defeated BC seven times in a row since 2018 and hope to return to the level of aggressiveness that they had last time against the Eagles, when they were 14-for-16 from the line.
Jaeden Zackery led BC with 18 points in the first matchup with Syracuse, while Quinten Post chipped in 14 points and 14 rebounds in the nine-point defeat.
Boston College (9-15, 4-10) has taken the court twice since then, losing to No. 7 Duke by 11 points and to Notre Dame by four in overtime. DeMarr Langford scored 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting against the Fighting Irish, although BC still dropped its fourth consecutive game.
BC coach Earl Grant said his team “did a lot of good things against Syracuse (in the first matchup). We’ve got to try to do it again and just continue to be sharp offensively.”
–Field Level Media
