Syracuse Orange men’s basketball: predictions and poll vs Boston College Eagles

The Syracuse Orange (14-6, 4-4) are on the road tonight against the Boston College Eagles (12-8, 3-6). Tip-off is at 7:00 on the ACC Network and we tell you if we think the Orange can get the series sweep.

Kevin: Syracuse 73, Boston College 70

I don’t think Quinten Post will get shut out again, but I think the Syracuse backcourt will also be better than the first meeting. If you’ve forgotten, Judah Mintz didn’t start and he combined with JJ Starling to shoot 2-8 from the floor. The Orange have an edge on the perimeter and if they can avoid turnovers, they should be able to survive a tricky road game against a scrappy team in a not-so hostile environment.

Szuba: Syracuse 75, Boston College 68

Boston College’s only wins in January have been over Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. Perhaps Devin McGlockton gets going again but I won’t pick the Eagles to win. Post will almost certainly have a better showing this time around but if Syracuse’s most recent game was any indication, Peter Carey might be able to provide spot minutes to spell Maliq Brown. Mintz and Starling keep up their scoring and the Orange defense continues to lock in as Syracuse wins its twelfth straight against Boston College.

Finn: Syracuse 70, Boston College 69

Syracuse beat BC just a few weeks ago, and I don’t even think that they played their best basketball in that game. Syracuse matches up very well with BC as quality perimeter defense from the likes of Judah and Quadir make an inconsistent shooting team even worse. Although ‘Cuse doesn’t shoot the ball particularly well either, the Eagles poor 3-pt defense should give the Orange enough space to hit some shots and irk out a lead. I am a bit worried for this matchup due to the Orange’s road inconsistencies this season.

Dom: Syracuse 72, Boston College 64

Syracuse has won 11 straight games versus BC, and the Orange haven’t lost on the road to the Eagles since 2018. As James noted, BC’s three ACC wins are against two of the three worst teams in the conference. The difference in this one will be the outside shooting — Syracuse is holding opponents to the third-lowest three-point percentage in the ACC, while BC is giving up the second-highest percentage. The likes of Bell, Starling and company are going to get good looks from the outside, and if they can make a reasonable number of them, this should be a close but comfortable win.

Mike: Syracuse 73, Boston College 62

I seriously don’t understand how ‘Cuse is 4- to 6-point dogs in this game. Quinten Post had the worst game of his career when the Eagles visited Syracuse a few weeks ago and if he can’t get going, the entire BC gameplan falls apart. As always SU needs to be mindful of perimeter shooters, but let’s not overthink this: they’ve faced a much tougher road, have lost both their centers to injury, and still have a better record to this point. Stay the course.

Max: Boston College 72, Syracuse 68

I’ll play devil’s advocate and go with the Eagles here. Like Mike, I really couldn’t believe that Syracuse was that big of an underdog, so maybe there’s something I’m missing. BC has the lowest turnover rate of any ACC team in conference play, and shoot a tad bit better than SU. The Orange are much thinner now guarding Quinten Post as they were the first time, so I expect the big man to have no problems dominating down low. If the Eagles could hang with North Carolina at home, like they did last week, they can compete with anyone.

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Now it’s your turn