Syracuse heads to Boston College in search of its fourth straight victory

Syracuse (12-5, 3-1 ACC) has won all three of their games since the calendar flipped to 2026 and has an opportunity to make it four in a row on Saturday when they travel to Boston College. The Eagles (7-10, 0-4 ACC) have been headed in the opposite direction since the new year began, dropping their first four outings in conference play after beating a team from Syracuse – the LeMoyne Dolphins.

BC has generally been fairly competitive in their ACC games, including holding a halftime lead at Louisville, but each of the losses have come by at least eight points with the worst being a 24-point drubbing at Clemson on Tuesday night. The primary culprit has been Boston College’s offense.

BC's offense has been unreliable due to their shooting struggles

The Eagles have shot 39.9 percent from the field this season, which ranks 353rd of 365 D-I teams and behind all but one power conference team. Their offensive efforts have been even worse in conference play, dropping to 38.0 percent from the floor and drawing a direct line to their league-worst 59.0 points per game.

BC simply struggles to put the ball in the hoop from anywhere, ranking 285th in 2-point field goal percentage, 335th in 3-point percentage, and 337th in free throw percentage. Theie one outlier is on shots classified as “far 2’s” at T-Rank, which has them making an above average 40.1 percent of these shots. (As a point of reference, SU shoots 37.7 percent on these attempts.)

Guard Fred Payne is the top threat for Boston College, as he averages 14.1 points per game and has made a team-leading 38 3-pointers at a 35.2 percent clip. Guard Donald Hand Jr. leads the Eagles with 14.4 points per game, but is an inefficient scorer, shooting under 22 percent from long range, but offsets that by getting to the free throw line a lot, as evidenced by his 6.9 free throws per game. Luka Toews is BC’s best long-range threat, shooting 44.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Jayden Hastings and Boden Kapke are a pair of solid, but unspectacular big men. Both are good rebounders on both ends of the floor with Hastings having more of an inside game, including protecting the rim, while Kapke offers a developing shooting range. Aidan Shaw is a third big man who is more of a defender and rebounder.

The Eagle defense is solid and helps keep them in games

Boston College tries to offset their offensive shortcomings with a strong defense that ranks 63rd in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Eagles protect the rim well as a team and do not give up a lot of easy shots, hoping to offset a lack of forced turnovers with solid defensive rebounding.

The Orange will need to remain composed and look for good shots on offense, including taking advantage when they get transition opportunities against a BC team that prefers a slower pace of play. While the Eagles struggled on defense inside the arc against Louisville, they held their other three ACC opponents to under 50 percent shooting on 2-pointers.

It will be extremely important for the Syracuse bigs to work for good shots and be willing to crash the offensive glass. SU’s guards and wings also need to play a composed game, taking shots in the flow of the offense and working to create good looks.

The Orange must commit to making things hard for Boston College on the perimeter while on the defensive end of the floor. In their last four victories, the Eagles have shot 38.0 percent from beyond the arc. Not allowing open 3’s will help SU to build a lead and hopefully put away a struggling opponent.

Syracuse 75, Boston College 62.

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