Syracuse men’s basketball: predictions and poll for Boston College

After back-to-back difficult matchups against Virginia Tech and Virginia, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team (13-10, 6-6) heads into its Saturday afternoon game against the Boston College Eagles (11-12, 5-7) looking for a reset.

The Orange enter the game hoping to return to winning form with just eight games left to go in the regular season, while the Eagles hope to take advantage of Syracuse’s recent downward trend.

Tip-off between the Orange and the Eagles is scheduled for 5 pm EST in Chestnut Hill, with the game available for streaming on the ACC Network.

Here are our predictions:

Dom

Syracuse 77, Boston College 70

Boston College’s lack of offensive upside makes it hard for me to not pick Syracuse picking up the win. With that said, we’ve seen the Orange play in some puzzling road games against inferior conference play (does anyone remember Louisville?). Jesse Edwards has the potential for a monster double-double performance, while Joe Girard has played consistently well against the Eagles’ defense. Bench production, particularly from Symir Torrence and the freshman crop will ultimately be the deciding factor. There’s a possibility the Orange could win ion dominant fashion, but we’re likely to see a more closer game than expected.

Kevin

Syracuse 69, Boston College 64

Boston College looked impressive against Clemson the other night so it should be another tough “road” game for the Orange. The Eagles don’t shoot the ball well, but they will try and get inside and will look to play physical against the young Syracuse team. I don’t think the Orange will run away with this one but with a pro-Syracuse crowd, they will be able to make enough plays to break their losing streak.

Mike

Syracuse 77, Boston College 66

The Orange NEED this win. Not just to keep one last finger hanging onto a possible First Four bid, not just to confirm that Jim Boeheim misspoke on local talk radio when he said ‘Cuse was on a four-game losing streak, but to ensure that our esteemed Chestnut Hill colleagues don’t get any ideas. Sorry BC, as bad as things can look in Salt City sometimes, we’ll still remind ourselves that we aren’t stuck with your athletic department.

Oh right, the game. The Eagles’ inability to shoot the three means SU should leave Chris Bell on the court for longer stretches than normal and see if he can get a hot streak going. I say the Orange flip the script and are the team to take a huge lead before the “home” squad makes the score closer than it really was.

Christian

Syracuse 72, Boston College 63

Boston College do have athletes that can score against the zone. Whether that scoring comes consistently is another matter. The Orange didn’t shoot particularly great but not particularly bad either against BC earlier this season. A big reason for the win was a 50% clip from three. Joe Girard continues to draw the best defend from opposing threes, so Chris Bell and Justin Taylor have to take advantage of their opportunities. This feels like a first to 60 win, and the Orange should in theory get there first.

Szuba

Boston College 99, Syracuse 68

Just kidding.

Give me Syracuse to win this one 77-67 as Jesse Edwards establishes himself inside against his Amsterdam counterpart and friend Quinten Post. Girard should bounce back here against a limited defense and Judah Mintz should continue to be Judah Mintz. If Syracuse can limit Makai Ashton-Langford and Jaeden Zackery on the perimeter the Orange should be able to care of business. Boston College really struggles to shoot the ball, so even a middling 2-3 zone shouldn’t have too much trouble defending the Eagles.

Now it’s your turn: who wins this nationally televised clash?