Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Syracuse survives upset bid from Boston College

Jim Boeheim

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim gestures during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament against Montana in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, March 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

AP

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- For much of the game, it looked like Boston College, a team that has disappointed thus far, was ready to have the court rushed in what would have been a huge upset win over No. 2 Syracuse on Monday night at Conte Forum.

Instead the 3-point shots stopped falling for the Eagles and the second-chance opportunities began to pile up for the Orange, as Syracuse overcame an eight-point second half deficit to escapeChestnut Hill with a 69-59 win to remain perfect on the season.

“We’ve been down in the second half a number of times this year,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “And when we’ve been in that situation, guys made players. It’s been C.J. a lot, but tonight I think it was Tyler with a couple big plays and Trevor. Then C.J. got a couple.”

The Orange led by two at halftime, and then quickly lost the lead in the second half as Boston College continued its hot shooting (5-of-12 from three in the first half) in the early stages of the half when Lonnie Jackson and Joe Rahon drilled back-to-back threes.

“Our offensive was the problem tonight,” Boeheim said. “If we lost it would have had nothing to do with out defense.”

Syracuse used its length to trap in its 2-3 zone defense at times on Monday night, and on several occasions, Rahon made some difficult passes out of that trap to find open teammates: one was a cross-court pass to Jackson (18 points) for three and another was to Ryan Anderson for a dunk, giving the Eagles its largest lead of the night at 45-37.

The Orange came back by attacking the glass to spark its sluggish. Trailing by five, Jerami Grant (playing with for fouls) and Trevor Cooney scored six straight Syracuse points off offensive rebounds. Cooney would later add a 3-pointer to stretch Cuse’s lead to 60-51 with six minutes to go. If that wasn’t dagger, Grant’s putback slam was moments later.

Still for most of the game the offense looked bad. Boston College was energized in front of a sold out crowd, and played well defensively, but the Syracuse offense didn’t help itself with unforced turnovers on the night. One of the bright spots was Cooney, who ended with a game-high 21 points.

Cooney had shot the ball poorly in his last game (2-of-12 from three). On Monday night he made an effort to attack the basket in the halfcourt set (his offensive rebound and putback cut the lead to one with 8:47 left) and in transition (three first half dunks).

“I wasn’t shooting that well from three earlier in the season,” Cooney said. “Today I really wanted to be more aggressive and get me going.”

Syracuse remains among the unbeatens, and got a good road test from Boston College in the process. The Orange are back at home on Saturday to host No. 22 Pitt as BC heads to North Carolina.

Follow @terrence_payne