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When Boston College’s Brevin Galloway tried to drive inside and kick the pass out for a 3-pointer, Buddy Boeheim was in the way. The Syracuse senior positioned himself in the lane, intercepting the pass to tie a career-high five steals — in just the first half — before drawing a foul on the other end.

Earlier in the first half, Buddy had jumped into a passing lane and cashed in a layup on the other end. Buddy said postgame there were a couple looks he recognized from the teams’ first contest two weeks ago, allowing him to “cheat that a little” and jump into passing lanes.

“I’ve been more active in the zone,” Buddy said. “Just moving around trying to read what they’re looking to do. We already played them so I had a good idea of what they were trying to do.”

BC burned SU for 40 points in the paint during the first game via Quinten Post and others. But this time, it was SU’s defense that fueled one of its most comfortable victories of the season. The unit had 10 first-half steals, and after holding BC to 34.8% overall shooting, it allowed a season-best 56 points.

The Orange turned defense into offense, going on first-half runs of 9-0 and 13-0 to all-but finish the game with 20 minutes to spare, eventually defeating the Eagles 76-56 for their fifth win in six games.

“We don’t get those steals, usually,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “We’re gambling a little bit, but we made some good plays defensively in the first half and got some points off of them.”

The Orange held a comfortable double-digit lead for much of the first half and maintained that throughout the second. The win wasn’t perfect — SU allowed a 10-0 run in the second half and finished with 13 turnovers — but against one of the ACC’s worst teams, it did more than enough.

“We were better,” Boeheim said of SU’s defense. “We made them take second, third shots — we didn’t let them get the first one. I thought we did a good job defensively, overall.”

On Feb. 8 against the Eagles, the Orange lost Jesse Edwards to a season-ending wrist injury. Saturday, Frank Anselem filled in for his second career start but picked up two fouls early on. He was promptly replaced by Bourama Sidibe.

Symir Torrence helped Syracuse turn defense into offense in the win. Corey Henry | Senior Staff Photographer

In his return, Sidibe helped anchor the defense with a season-high 18 minutes, his most since March 11, 2020, against North Carolina. With Sidibe in the middle of the zone and activity generated from the wings, Syracuse’s defense helped create a 9-0 run near the midway point of the first half. It forced 12 first-half turnovers and converted those into 17 points.

On one, Joe Girard III got a steal in transition, and after missing the first layup attempt, he jumped off the floor to put back the second-chance layup. On another, Cole Swider forced a turnover against Post in the paint and then drove down the court, picking out Sidibe for a reverse layup that put SU up 10.

On the other end, when Makai Ashton-Langford drove inside for a reverse layup, Sidibe stood tall in the paint and prevented the easy two-pointer. Later, the center closed out a mid-range shot, before blocking the second-chance shot.

But Sidibe’s most electrifying play came when BC’s Andrew Kenny braced himself for a corner 3-pointer from the right side. Sidibe charged out from the paint and rejected the shot, sending it flying into the seats before he crashed into the SU bench.

Cole Swider scored 18 points against BC, and was one of four players to record double-digit points. Corey Henry | Senior Staff Photographer

The play was telling of BC’s 3-point shooting — the Eagles entered the contest ranked among the worst nationally in 3-point offense, and they shot 5-of-28 from deep on Saturday afternoon. On a few occasions, Boston College had open looks from deep, but they couldn’t knock them down. BC drove inside and kicked the ball beyond the arc without success, airballing on one 3-point attempt from the corner and missing numerous others off the rim and backboard.

“They’ll probably tell you that they’re not the best shooting team, so they’re trying to get the ball into the paint and score with their big guys,” Swider said. “It’s just part of the scouting report.”

In the second half, Ashton-Langford knocked down a long jumper and a 3-pointer to make it a 17-point game. He helped create a 10-0 run for BC before Boeheim called a timeout with roughly 12 minutes left. That halted the comeback, with Jimmy Boeheim finding Swider for a 3-pointer.

Swider was one of four players who finished with double-digit points, fueling an offensive attack forced to produce without Edwards. But in the end, it didn’t really matter. Syracuse was making its shots. BC wasn’t. And ultimately, the combination of consistent offense and strong defense led to one of the most in-control games SU has had this season.

“Credit to our defense,” Buddy said. “We’ve gotten a lot better in that aspect.”

Published on February 19, 2022 at 2:11 pm

Contact Roshan: [email protected] | @Roshan_f16