Just as you thought this season could not get any worse for the Orange, it did. Boston College’s 96-81 rout of Syracuse ended the Eagles 664 day conference win drought.
The New Year was supposed to turn the script for Syracuse. You heard about the two-a-day and three-a-day practices. A couple of big ACC wins could flip the Orange’s fortunes and maybe get itself into the tournament. 
But that was not the case in Chestnut Hill. SU looked flat from start to finish. Things got so bad that Jim Boeheim switched to man-to-man defense. The head coach has never had a losing season in his 41 year tenure, but the Orange is threatening to break that stretch this year.
The downfall as of late has clearly been on the defensive end. The craziest part is the Orange’s box score. You would expect that if this team got 22 points from Andrew White III and double doubles from both Tyler Lydon and Tyler Roberson that would be more than enough to beat the notoriously bad Eagles. Then again, it is tough to beat anybody when your opponent shoots over 60 percent from behind the arc.
This is a lost season for Syracuse. At this point, it is time to groom some of the younger guys to fortify the zone in the coming years. However, that is tough for Boeheim to achieve. White has been a star for the Orange, but his tenure in Central New York is over after this year. It would simply be unfair to distribute his minutes elsewhere at the cost of building for the future. In fact, Boeheim left White in with the walk-ons at the end of the game because White wants to play regardless of the circumstances. Frank Howard has been dismal at point guard lately. The sophomore is averaging more than three turnovers over the past five games. But like White, John Gillon is not a part of the future, so opting to play Howard with the future in mind is not justified.
But don’t worry Syracuse fans. Lacrosse is just 41 days away.
