Syracuse 62, Boston College 40: Three Things Jim Boeheim Said

Syracuse topped Boston College 62-40 to earn its first ACC win of the season, but that didn't mean head coach Jim Boeheim was in a good mood afterward.

Here are three notable things he said in his postgame press conference:

"You learn that in about sixth grade"

At the 14:22 mark in the second half, Syracuse forward Tyler Roberson was whistled for an over-the-back foul while attempting to grab an offensive rebound. That was his fourth foul of the game, enough to force Boeheim to bench the forward.

Given the situation and Roberson's foul trouble, it was an especially unnecessary foul to commit. Afterward, a reporter asked Boeheim how he could help Roberson determine when it is and isn't worth going after a rebound.

"You learn learn that in about sixth grade," Boeheim answered. "I'm not teaching that now."

Roberson didn't return to the game after picking up that foul, but he still managed to finish with a game-high 12 rebounds.

"(Rebounding) is not an issue"

Syracuse outrebounded Boston College 35-27 on Wednesday night, marking a fourth consecutive game that the Orange have at least held their own on the boards. But Syracuse had lost each of the previous three games and didn't play exceptionally well on Wednesday.

As evidenced in part by those games, there hasn't been much of a correlation this season between how SU has fared on the boards and how it has fared overall. In fact, in arguably the Orange's best win this season — a 74-67 victory over Texas A&M in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game — they were outrebounded 34-25.

"We can get out rebounded and still win," Boeheims said. "That's not an issue. But we have to shoot better and can't turn (the ball) over."

On Wednesday, Syracuse went 4-of-17 from 3-point range and committed 14 turnovers. It didn't cost Boeheim's team much against the lowly Eagles, but that won't be the case down the road.

"We don't have enough margin (for error) to do that," he said.

"Nothing we can do about it"

On Saturday, Syracuse will visit Wake Forest in what promises to be a difficult — albeit winnable — game. Two days later, the Orange will head to Durham for a showdown with Duke before making a trip to Charlottesville to take on Virginia.

It's a difficult three-game stretch that the Orange, on the brink of disaster, will somehow need to survive.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Boeheim said. "We just have to go play it."