Observations from Syracuse’s OT loss vs. BC: Can’t close, Kingz’s season-high
Naithan George coughed up the ball seven times in Syracuse's loss to Boston College, a key contributor to the Eagles' 22 points off turnovers. Leonardo Eriman | Senior Staff Photographer
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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Riding a three-game winning streak, Syracuse traveled to Chestnut Hill looking to extend it to four against Boston College. The Eagles — who went winless across their first four conference games — entered Saturday as the lowest-rated team in the Atlantic Coast Conference and placed No. 183 on the NET Rankings, making the matchup a Quad 3 opportunity for SU.
The Orange entered ranked No. 63 in the Net Rankings and No. 58 on KenPom and EvanMiya. To continue building an NCAA Tournament resume, Syracuse needed to avoid a loss.
That’s exactly what it didn’t do. Despite SU leading by seven points with under three minutes remaining, Boston College climbed back and forced overtime, outscoring the Orange 17-9 in the extra period to steal a win. Donnie Freeman and Naithan George combined for 14 turnovers, which offset Nate Kingz’s best game in an Orange uniform.
Here are observations from Syracuse’s (12-6, 3-2 ACC) 81-73 overtime loss to Boston College (8-10, 1-4 ACC):
Syracuse can’t close in regulation
Gritty games require a high level of fighting. Adrian Autry typically likes the sound of that. If you told him the Orange would be knotted at 55 with BC with five minutes left in regulation, he probably wouldn’t have been too thrilled, but that’s the situation his team faced.
A Kingz and-1 after an acrobatic layup was a good start. After another defensive stop, Freeman was tied up, but SU retained possession with the possession arrow on its side. Freeman then got downhill for a driving layup, giving the Orange a 62-55 lead with 2:54 remaining.
But like the whole game, Syracuse couldn’t pull away. Boston College’s Boden Kapke got inside for 2 before a Freeman turnover (one of his seven) led to a Donald Hand 3-pointer. Once again for the Orange, Kingz stepped up, getting inside for a deuce to give them a 64-60 advantage with 1:21 left.
Fred Payne scored the next point after splitting his attempts from the charity stripe on the ensuing possession before George committed his sixth turnover by stepping out of bounds with 52 seconds remaining. The turnover came right after he notched a steal after initially coughing the ball up.
It didn’t lead to any BC points, though, keeping Syracuse’s lead at 64-61 as Kapke missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer. Freeman corralled the rebound, and SU let the clock get down to 19 seconds before calling a timeout. Out of the break, the Eagles fouled Freeman, who missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving BC the ball.
Hand then drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining. Despite having the final possession, George rushed up the court and had his pocket picked, setting up a half-court Boston College heave that missed, sending the game to overtime.
Good teams typically find a way to close out seven-point leads with under three minutes remaining. Syracuse didn’t do that on Saturday, and it paid the price.
Eagles carry momentum into OT
The Eagles scored the first points of overtime and never relinquished the lead. Aidan Shaw captured that emphatically with a fast break dunk after William Kyle III missed a layup. On the ensuing possession, Kyle missed a free throw, which led to a Chase Forte layup on the other end.
Though Freeman got inside for a layup of his own, BC answered with Jayden Hastings posterizing Kyle. Shaw then met Freeman at the rim, blocking SU’s star, which led to Hand — who finished with 12 points — getting downhill in transition for an easy score.
Boston College 72, Syracuse 66 with just over two minutes remaining. Timeout, Autry.
The six-point lead was essentially the nail in the coffin. While the Orange hung around, trailing 76-71 with 51 seconds left, Freeman turned the ball over. That turned the game into a foul-fest for SU, and BC did its job at the line, securing the win.
Fred Payne outduels Donnie Freeman
It’s undisputed that SU is a much better team with Freeman on the court. In the nine games he missed due to injury, Syracuse went 5-4. When he’s played, the Orange are now 8-2.
Before facing the Eagles, Freeman averaged 23 points across the four games since returning to action. Even so, it took him five minutes to get his first shot attempt — a missed 3-pointer from the top of the key.
But that didn’t deter him from getting going. While sliding over to play center when Kyle received his first breather, Freeman rattled off a quick five points with a contested mid-range jumper and a three-point play off an and-1.
His next points didn’t come for nearly 10 minutes, but he again worked his way inside to convert a three-point play after getting fouled. Freeman then closed the half with a transition layup. He had 10 first-half points while shooting 4-of-6 from the field.
On the other end, BC’s top offensive player per EvanMiya’s Offensive BPR metric, Fred Payne, couldn’t muster much. Averaging 14.1 points per game, the sophomore scored 20 or more points in four of the Eagles’ last five contests.
Among his first 10 shots, Payne made just two before percolating in the second half. While a Freeman and-1 three minutes into the second half gave Syracuse a 39-33 lead, Payne answered right back with his second bucket of the half. Kingz proceeded to pour in a 3 for the Orange on the ensuing possession before Payne answered back with one of his own.
Payne’s scoring helped keep BC afloat, and by the time he scored his next points, another 3-pointer, the Eagles took a 46-44 lead at the 11:56 mark. Though SU pulled ahead to a 51-47 lead, a mid-range score from Payne got the Eagles back on track, leading to the 55-55 tie heading into the final five minutes of regulation.
Down the stretch, Freeman helped SU nearly close out the win while Payne was relatively silenced. In overtime, neither was much of a factor as the Eagles pulled off the upset.
Freeman finished the game with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while Payne had 26 points, shooting 8-of-20 from the field.
Nate Kingz’s season-high
Kingz got off to about as bad a start as he could’ve, missing his first three shots. However, he nailed a catch-and-shoot attempt near the top of the key to get back on track. Though he then passed up an open look in the corner, Kingz found himself with another open look beyond the arc quickly after, knocking down the triple.
He entered halftime 2-of-3 from deep before making all three of his triples in the second half. Meanwhile, he worked his way inside for a pair of buckets near the rim down the stretch of regulation, which should’ve helped propel the Orange to victory.
Instead, Syracuse went to overtime and quickly found itself down six. That was until Kingz drove down the lane and converted another and-1, cutting the deficit down to three.
Kingz scored another two points down the stretch, but Syracuse was virtually already dead in the water at that point. Despite Kingz’s season-high 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting, the Orange fell short.
