BOSTON (AP) — Tyus Battle scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half and Syracuse, getting an additional spark from coach Jim Boeheim's son Buddy, who scored 13 points, beat Boston College 77-71 on Wednesday night.
Buddy Boeheim, a freshman who came off the bench when starters Oshae Brissett and Elijah Hughes got in first-half foul trouble, hit three 3-pointers for the Orange (15-6, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Ky Bowman and Jordan Chatman each had 21 points for Boston College (11-8, 2-5).
BC had closed to 53-51 and had a chance to take the lead twice before Battle nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key. It sparked an 11-4 run that pushed the Orange ahead 64-55 with just under 9 minutes to play.
Battle hit two 3s and a jumper — all from the top of the key — in the spurt.
A few times chants of "Buddy Boeheim" echoed down from the stands.
The closest the Eagles got the rest of the way was six points.
Both teams went on good scoring runs in the opening half, which controlled tempo mainly due to SU's zone dictating the pace and BC's inability to get out on the break because of the Orange's solid outside shooting.
Like most home games against SU, BC's students and fans were drowned out many times by a contingent of fans dressed in Orange that broke into chants of 'Let's Go Orange!'
The expected large crowd seemed down a bit and very late arriving, which was likely due to a line of snow squalls that came into the area about an hour before tipoff.
BIG PICTURE
Syracuse: Coming off a lopsided 22-point loss at No. 10 Virginia Tech on Saturday, the Orange got a much-needed bounce-back win. They find themselves in the upper half of the top-heavy ACC standings.
Boston College: The Eagles were looking for their first three-game winning streak in the conference since a four-game streak near the end of the 2014-15 season, which was Jim Christian's first as head coach. . Freshman guard Wynston Tabbs, their second-leading scorer, missed his second straight because of a left knee injury.
TEMPERS
Chatman and Hughes had words, got up into each other and had to be separated midway into the second half, which each getting a technical because of the incident.
GOOD HALF
The Orange shot 63 percent (17 of 27) in the opening half, including 7 of 14 on 3-point attempts.
EARLY STREAKS
BC outscored the Orange 15-5 to go up by nine early in the game before SU went on a 14-0 spree that was triggered by consecutive baskets by Hughes, the second a 3 from the left wing.
UP NEXT
Syracuse: At Pittsburgh on Saturday evening.
Boston College: Hosts Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon.
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