Boston College falls at home to Tyus Battle, Syracuse

Ky Bowman and Jordan Chatman each had 21 points, but Tyus Battle’s 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting powered Syracuse to a 77-71 road victory over Boston College.

The Eagles jumped out to a 15-6 lead before Syracuse went on a 14-0 run to take control. BC would hang around the whole game but never led after Syracuse went up 16-15.

As a team, Syracuse shot 55.8% from the field, only a tick below the team’s season-high against St. Bonaventure.

Despite the successful offensive night, coach Jim Boeheim wasn’t pleased with the team aside from Battle.

“If he (Battle) has the ball in his hands, nobody else can screw it up,” Boeheim said.

Senior Frank Howard, typically the point guard, took back seat to Battle who was the primary ball handler against BC.

Boeheim’s son, Buddy, was the team’s second-leading scorer with 13 points. He knocked down three of his five three-pointers over 21 minutes off the bench. After one of the three-pointers, he had the large Orange contingent at Conte Forum on its feet chanting his name.

Wynston Tabbs, BC’s second-leading scorer behind Bowman, missed his second straight game with a nagging knee injury. Fellow freshman Chris Herren Jr. was thrust into the starting role, but Jared Hamilton played most of the minutes at the two spot down the stretch.

“Those are always matchup situations,” coach Jim Christian said. “He (Hamilton) matched up better because he’s a better defender, stronger than Chris.”

Jared finished with a season-high 12 points in 29 minutes, and his brother Jairus provided a solid presence off the bench to spell defensive standout, Steffon Mitchell. Jairus, BC’s highest-rated recruit in over a decade, struggled to begin the season but has been solid in ACC play.

Midway through the second half, BC was about to take another shot clock violation with Bowman trapped in the corner with time winding down. He spun around, faded away and launched up a high-arcing prayer that found its way through the twine.

“The shot Bowman made in the corner, I’ve never seen one like it,” Boeheim said. “That was an incredible shot.”

While Bowman and Chatman shot well, the Eagles as a whole struggled with Syracuse’s zone defense. In the first half, there were multiple possessions where BC wasn’t able to get a shot off before the 30-second clock expired.

The offense stagnated outside of BC’s veteran duo; Bowman and Chatman combined to take 28 of the team’s 45 shot attempts.

Like the Providence game a few months back, BC-Syracuse resembled an old-school, Big East dogfight. The stadium was rocking all game long, whether it be from the BC student section or the droves of Orange fans who braved the weather and turned out for the contest.

BC is back in action Saturday afternoon against Notre Dame in what has become a must-win if these Eagles want to advance to a postseason tournament. A ferocious BC comeback fell short in the first head-to-head matchup of the season in South Bend a few weeks ago in a 69-66 Irish victory.

Syracuse and BC will meet again a week from Saturday at the Carrier Dome.