Chestnut Hill, Mass. – There were many reasons why Syracuse lost to Boston College on Saturday.
Start with a whopping 18 Syracuse turnovers and 22 BC points off those turnovers.
Throw in Syracuse’s 14-for-22 free-throw shooting (63%) among the things that cost the Orange a win Saturday.
Follow that up and SU’s defense gave up 36 second-half points to a BC team that entered Saturday’s game averaging just 67 points per game.
But the biggest reason was the most obvious – the large disparity in production between the two teams’ benches.
Boston College got 20 points from its bench compared to just two points Syracuse got from its reserves.
A bench contribution isn’t always about points, but Syracuse’s bench hasn’t contributed much.
The Syracuse reserve quartet of Kiyan Anthony, Tyler Betsey, Sadiq White and Akir Souare combined for just six rebounds. They went 0 for 6 from the field. They were 2 for 4 from the foul line.
It was a total of 47 minutes of nothingness in Syracuse’s 81-73 overtime loss to BC here at the Conte Forum on Saturday.
“No one can play 40 minutes the way we try to play,” SU coach Adrian Autry said. “This team is good and this team is going to be good because of our depth.
“I’m not going to stop playing boys, okay?” Autry added.
Coaches often have rotation patterns. More recently, a pattern has developed as a result of Syracuse’s substitution patterns.
The Orange jumped out to a 15-6 lead early in Syracuse’s game against Boston College on Saturday.
At that point, Autry looked to his bench and took three starters out of the game. A few seconds later, a fourth substitute was sent to the scorer’s table.
Boston College would come back into the game, outscoring the Orange 11-1 over the next five minutes.
This has become a trend. Syracuse similarly staked an early lead only to see it dwindle when subs entered the game in recent wins over Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh and Florida State.
On this day, though, letting Boston College find its footing would result in the Orange stumbling.
“We started and we made subs and we stopped,” Autry said after the loss. “But that happens in the game. You know, we have to defend. We have to keep fighting. I thought they did that in the first half.”
“You know, I didn’t think that was the problem,” he said, referring to his early rotation.
The same scenario would repeat itself at the start of the second half.
Syracuse led 44-41 when subs Anthony and Betsey came on for Naithan George and Nate Kingz at 13:49.
Boston College scored six straight to take a 47-44 lead.
Kingz, who scored a season-high 27 points, said it’s not a problem of the starters or the reserves. According to him, the problem is the management of the attack, regardless of the lineup that is on the field.
“We have to be able to execute no matter who’s in or out,” Kingz said. “We have to run the offense, no matter what the group is.
Syracuse has gotten more out of their bench in recent games. Just last Tuesday, Betsey made six 3-pointers en route to an 18-point performance in SU’s win over Florida.
Anthony entered Saturday’s game averaging 9.8 points per game, though his numbers dipped to 5.2 points against ACC competition.
“I have complete confidence in our (bench),” SU forward Donnie Freeman said. They’re talented. I’m not worried about that.”
Asked what he expects from his reserves, Autry said, “What I expect from my starters.”
“Any one of those guys could start on this team,” Autry added. “We expect every player to play level 5 defensively, communicate defensively, look out for each other, help each other, play together, share the basketball.”
“It’s no different than what I ask of the five guys that start the game.
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