Strong Shooting Powers 'Cuse Past BC

Wednesday, January 24

7 PM

Syracuse University

Boston College

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

1/24/2018 8:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse (14-6, 3-4 ACC) shot a season-high 60.4 percent (29-of-48) from the field to surge past Boston College (13-8, 3-5 ACC), 81-63, Wednesday night in the Carrier Dome. Five different Orange players finished the game in double-figure scoring.

Sophomore Tyus Battle led the way with 24 points, while shooting 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from the field. Junior Frank Howard added 18 points with six assists and junior Paschal Chukwu contributed 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Freshman Oshae Brissett recorded 13 points and seven rebounds and freshman Marek Dolezaj totaled a career-high 12 points with eight boards.

How it was Decided
With Syracuse up 12 late in the second half, Chukwu drained two free throws and Battle knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Orange a 72-55 lead with 4:59 to play. The Eagles were unable to trim the deficit any lower than 14 during the remainder of regulation.

Game Summary
Boston College hit its first five field goals, with four of them coming from behind the arc, and jumped out to an early 14-7 lead. Battle scored five straight points along with a Howard layup to tie the game at 14-14.

Ten consecutive points from Brissett, a Chukwu layup and a Howard foul shot fueled a 14-4 run to give the Orange a 27-20 advantage. Ky Bowman drained a 3-pointer for the Eagles but Battle answered with a step-back jumper and Howard added five points to extend the Syracuse lead to 11.

Jordan Chatman hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Syracuse lead to eight, before a Chukwu layup gave to Orange a 47-37 halftime advantage.

Boston College opened up the second half with a Bowman trey but Syracuse answered with an 11-0 scoring run. Dolezaj hit back-to-back layups and Battle drained a trey, added a driving layup, and Chukwu laid one in.

Jerome Robinson made two buckets for the Eagles and Bowman converted a 4-point play to cut the Syracuse lead to 14 with 9:53 to play. Bowman added another 3-pointer with 7:09 remaining to trim the Boston College deficit to 12.

Numbers of Note
Syracuse have five players in double digit scoring for the first time since its November victory against Texas Southern.

On top of their season-high field goal percentage, the Orange shot 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from behind the arc. The Eagles finished the game shooting 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from the field and 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from 3-point territory.

The previous Syracuse season-high field-goal percentage was .521 (25-of-48) against Colgate. The Orange last posted a shooting percentage over 60 percent on Feb. 11, 2016 versus Florida State (62 percent). Syracuse also tied its season-high of 81 points (regulation games). Dolezaj eclipsed his career-high of 10 points the he tallied against Texas Southern and Maryland earlier this season.

Robinson led Boston College with 21 points and Bowman added 20. The duo combined to shoot 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) from the field and 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from beyond the arc.

What's Next
Syracuse visits Pittsburgh on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. in the Petersen Events Center.