Syracuse Again-Not

It had to happen.  Three teams in a row played the exact same type of game against the Orange. First it was Pittsburgh and they were set to win, until a miraculous shot went in for Syracuse at the buzzer. Then North Carolina State played the same patient way, but became sloppy with the ball at the end of the contest and pulled defeat from a likely victory.

Last night, Boston College with only two wins in the conference, played the identical style. Pass the ball around the perimeter, occasionally throw it to the foul line, exhaust the 35 second clock and then take a three.  I saw the first half when BC managed to have more turnovers than a bakery yet still find themselves in the game.  I turned on the set at the end of the second half and saw that BC was within a basket.  The Eagles tied the game in regulation and hit a couple of threes in the OT.  There was no miracle for Syracuse. The undefeated season is history.

In a way this is good news for the Orange.  Better to lose now than in the first round of the tournament against the 2014 edition of Florida Gulf Coast.  Syracuse will probably be more aggressive on defense now extending their zone and trapping more.  On offense, they will just need to wake up and not expect a miracle.

We will see a different Syracuse team this weekend against Duke.