Maliq Brown: A
The undersized center got his first start of the season tonight after it was announced prior to the game that Naheem McLeod would miss time due to a foot injury. The sophomore made the most of his opportunity. Brown was stifling on the defensive end, keeping Boston College’s star center Quinten Post quiet. Add on the number of blows and hits that Brown received from Post, that makes this performance even more impressive. Maliq Brown has been playing like an All-ACC player recently.
Syracuse’s Defense: A
Especially at the start of the game, the Orange defense was lock down. You can make a strong case that the defense was the best its been all season. Boston College is by no means a bad offensive basketball team. They entered the contest top 50 in KenPom offensive efficiency and had the 11th least turnovers per game in the country. The Orange sped the Eagles up on offense and made them uncomfortable.
Overall Offense: C
This was a rough night for the Orange on the offensive end and the main reason was Judah Mintz just simply wasn’t himself. Mintz struggled to make shots from the field and really only was making shots at the free throw line. Justin Taylor made a three to start the game then missed a lot of bad shots and didn’t contribute on the offensive end. JJ Starling couldn’t get anything to go on the offensive end and neither could Benny Williams. All things considered, it’s truly shocking how the Orange scored as many as they did.
Chris Bell: B+
After such a good start to the season, Chris Bell was starting to emerge as the potential second option for the SU offense. But, the past month has been tough for the sophomore. Ever since the Cornell game on December 5th, he hadn’t eclipsed 7 points until tonight. Bell set the tone early with a three to open up the game then was pretty consistent throughout offensively. There are still some things that Bell needs to do better defensively and rebounding the ball. But overall, Bell had a really solid performance tonight.
9pm Tipoff Time: F
A 9pm tipoff on a Wednesday night with students not on campus makes absolutely no sense. Even when students are on campus, it is a hassle for everyone. The fans in the dome made the environment a good one tonight but if the game started two hours earlier, you’d imagine there would have been a couple thousand more fans who showed up.
